Homes, roads and underground stations in London have been flooded while two hospitals in the city asked patients to stay away after thunderstorms battered the south of England.
The Environment Agency has six flood warnings in place across the country's southeast, while there are 19 alerts for potential flooding active throughout England and Wales.
The wettest part of the country was St James's Park in London, where 41.6mm of rain fell.
Residents in northeast London used buckets, brooms and wooden boards to create makeshift flood defences for their homes, while water gushing from an Underground station was caught on video.
All planned surgery and outpatient appointments have been cancelled at Whipps Cross Hospital in east London following the heavy rain.
A spokeswoman for Barts Health NHS Trust said: "We are continuing to experience operational issues at Whipps Cross Hospital due to the heavy rainfall yesterday.
"We cancelled all planned surgery and outpatient appointments for today, and are diverting ambulances while we work hard to clean up affected areas of the hospital.
"Meanwhile, we cleaned all areas affected by the flooding at Newham Hospital yesterday and its emergency department is now open to people needing emergency care."
Pudding Mill Lane DLR Station pic.twitter.com/s9AkSPHd4H
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Restaurant manager Mariya Peeva, who lives in Woodford, said her neighbour's bedroom was flooded, and her son worked with other residents to prevent the rising rainwater from deluging their home.
Ms Peeva, 46, said: "My son went to buy some food from the local shop - by the time he came back the whole street and the pavement were already flooded and the water was coming into our front door."
Londoner Eddie Elliott, 28, said the flooding was the worst he had ever seen it, after he cycled past Queenstown Road station where the road had been "totally shut down".
He said: "Having been born and raised in London, I have never seen anything quite like it.
"It stands out as the worst I've experienced personally ... totally shut down the whole road with buses stood broken down in the water."
The Met Office had a yellow warning for storms from Norwich to Plymouth in place until midnight.
The rain brought an end to the heatwave earlier this week, but temperatures are set to rise in most places again as the storms clear, with 26C in London, 25C in Edinburgh, 24C in Cardiff, and 22C in Belfast.
Standon Calling festival in Hertfordshire was also cancelled due to the floods.
The festival said in a statement: "Unfortunately due to flooding we will no longer be able to proceed with the festival.
"If you can safely leave the site this evening please do so as soon as possible. We are working on getting everyone off site as safely and quickly as possible."
