Normal rail services expected on Monday as thaw causes flooding havoc for homeowners

Photo: McKenzie London on Flickr

The milder weather and sunshine experienced across south and east London today will be short-lived as temperatures are set to drop below freeing again tonight.

Mist, frost and sleet have been forecast for London tomorrow and the Met office has issued another severe weather warning for overnight ice on the roads.

However, almost all the snow from last week has now melted away and schools, libraries, leisure centres and transport systems across the area are expected to be back to normal tomorrow morning. No further snow is forecast over the next few days.

Commuters are expected to have easier rail journeys following last weeks delays and disruptions to train services.

A spokesman for TfL said services along the East London line, which was forced to severely restrict its timetable on Thursday and Friday, should be operating normally on Monday morning.

However, passengers are advised to check the East London line website before their journey as the line could  be disrupted if ice forms on the tracks overnight.

Network Rail said it will be working through the night to try remove the ice from the tracks which caused so much trouble last week. A spokeswoman for Southeastern said that they hope to run a normal service tomorrow, so long as the severe conditions did not return.

Southeastern’s Sarah Boundy defended the company’s decision to run an “extremely limited” service since the snow hit London.

In an interview with the BBC she said staff had worked round the clock to run the best service it could given the “very problematic” weather.

Homeowners are being warned to safeguard against floods and water has been intermittently switched off across the four boroughs this weekend as engineers have attempted to fix burst water pipes.

John Griggs, Principal Technical Officer at The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering warns: “The effects of previously hidden cracks in pipes caused by water that expanded into ice during the low temperatures can lead to burst pipes and leaks which can devastate property and possessions.”

London floodings are up by 150 per cent, with fire crews being called out to 163 flooding incidents in the last four days of November. Thames Water are answering 150 reports a day, which is double the normal amount for this time of year.

Previous ELL snow coverage:
Warnings issued as the snow eases but leaves homeowners and drivers at risk from floods and ice

Disruption in south and east London begins to ease as temperatures start to rise this weekend

LIVE BLOG: Freezing conditions continue to cause chaos across south and east London

Leave a Reply