Today train services between Scotland and England have been axed in the wake of yesterday's freak deluges that saw rail lines disappear underwater, landslips and fallen trees.

In Shropshire yesterday, a 66-year-old retired schoolteacher was swept to his death when a normally gentle brook burst its banks after two hours of torrential rain causing a flash flood.

Michael Ellis, 66, a retired deputy headteacher had been driving home after having blood tests at a nearby doctor's surgery when the sudden floods cut him off in the village of Bittlerley, near Ludlow, just half-a-mile from his home.

Mr Ellis, who lived in the village with his wife Judith, 68, for more than 10 years, abandoned the silver Ford Ka by some farm buildings and attempted to make his way back home by foot.

But he only managed to walk 100 yards before he was swept away.

Caught in the rain: Two Newcastle girls are left utterly drenched as the thunderstorm hits

Witnesses said the man's body was found nearby after the emergency services launched a huge search as heavy rain hit.

Local councillor and farmer Richard Huffer, 50, said he had known Mr Ellis since he was taught by him at a secondary school in nearby Ludlow more than three decades ago.

He said: 'He taught me maths at Ludlow School and I am 50, he has been in the village that amount of time.

'He was a very well respected member of the community. He has helped me a lot in my work as a councillor and I have very fond memories of him as a member of the community and as a friend.

'He will be deeply missed. His wife is in shock.'

Mr Huffer said Mr Ellis had parked his car - a Kia Sportage 4x4 - in a layby to avoid driving through the floods and attempted to walk through a field towards his home in the village.

He said: 'He's parked his car here and cut across through a gate on the right hand side and tried to cross the brook at a higher level.
'Obviously he has got swept away.

It was a different story down south as tennis fans fainted in the heat at Wimbledon yesterday. But in the Midlands enough ice fell to keep the whole of London cool.

In a dramatic demonstration of our mad weather, large swathes of northern and central Britain were hammered by rolling storms while the South sweltered during one of the hottest days of the year so far.

The picturesque town of Appleby was particularly badly hit, many homes were pumped out and the local primary school had its play area flooded.

In Tyneside trains were cancelled at Central station in Newcastle and Gateshead's MetroCentre and Ikea store were evacuated.

Witnesses described an announcement of a "technical fault" at the MetroCentre before water burst into the building and flooded shop floors.

Flood alerts were issued across the North East as tributaries to the region's rivers threatened to burst.

In Northumberland, police warned motorists to take care as they received reports of flooding around Haltwhistle, Greenhead Bank and all along the A69 and A68.

Half a month's rain fell in just an hour this morning as the severe storm hit across the Midlands. In Scampton, Lincolnshire, 25.8mm of rain fell between 1pm and 2pm.

Rita Gatehouse, 66, said: 'Mike had been to doctors for blood tests and was driving home.

'He found himself stranded by the flood waters and couldn't drive through - so he got out and walked. He must have been trying to find a different way around when he got into difficulties.'

He also ran a Girl Guides group with his wife Judith. The couple did not have any children.

Earlier, 22.2m fell in Winterbourne, West Midlands, as a weather front moved across the country. And Shrobdon, Herefordshire, had 37mm of rain between 6am and midday today - with most of the wet weather coming during a three-hour period.

Henry Chance, chairman of Bitterley Parish Council, where a man died, said: 'This flooding is the worst I can ever remember in living memory.

'The water down there is usually nothing more than a brook - its just a trickle.

'You wouldn't even know there was any kind of waterway running through Bitterley - you could walk up and down it in wellies.

In Birstall, Leicestershire, hailstones the size of golf balls fell this afternoon - smashing a car window in the process.

The hailstones - which measured up to 6cm (2.3ins) in diameter - fell during an hour long storm which started at around 1pm.

Sian Colver, 29, said: 'The weather is just crazy, one minute everything was normal with blue skies and then suddenly all you could hear was what sounded like bullets hitting rooves and windows.

'I was shocked when I saw the size of them, they were like golf balls.'

Thunderclap: A home video shows a bolt of lightning striking the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle

Chaos: Thunderstorms in Newcastle upon-Tyne turn the quayside roadway into a river with drivers battling to keep moving in the rising floodwater

Calamity: A car is submerged in Gateshead by the Athletics stadium. Motorists were left stranded up to their windows in the rush hour superstorm

(Right) A pedestrian is soaked to the skin in Newcastle while two women shelter under their umbrellas in Appleby, Cumbria

Rescue: Submerged vehicles in the Heaton district of Newcastle where a dramatic rooftop rescue took place after a mother and baby were forced to take refuge on their car roof

Floodwaters rise around stranded cars as the rain teems down in Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne where roads were transformed into lakes in a matter of seconds

A car drives through an area of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside which was transformed into an enormous lake after a sudden downpour

Sunshine at Wimbledon: Tennis fans stripped to t-shirts and shorts and sported sunhats and shades as south London was treated to a heatwave

The section of the All England Club nicknamed 'Murray Mound' was packed with sunbathers, who watched the British number one in action on a big screen

No washout: Andy Murray signs an autograph for a fan at Wimbledon this morning before the start of his second round match

The good weather spurred Andy Murray onto a second round victory over Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-5 6-7 (7-5) 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

But as parts of the country were hit by wet weather, London and the south of England remained dry this afternoon as the fourth day of tennis got underway at Wimbledon.

Temperatures of 28C were recorded in Gravesend while there was 27C in London

A black and white image shows hundreds of lightning strikes as red crosses stretching from Wales in the West across as far as Derbyshire.

Dan Quirk, 34, a deputy headteacher from Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, said he had never seen such a sudden and sharp hour of rain before.

Unprecedented scenes in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, as the run-off from the heavy rain cascades over a bank

Last stop: A bus struggles through deep water along a flooded street in the Heaton district of Newcastle upon Tyne

Overload: Water gushes out from underneath a manhole cover in Cullercoats, near Whitley Bay on Tyneside

Day turns into night: Many areas, such as this part of Newcastle, were plunged into darkness as the thunderstorm hit

He said: 'It was like Birmingham-on-Sea, I have never seen it come down that fast or with such power, it was incredible.'The road was literally turned into a river in just a few minutes.'A 90-year-old man had to be rescued from his car by fire crews in Worfield, Shropshire, as three feet of water rose around his car on the A454.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said the 90-year-old man was one of a number of people rescued from vehicles following downpours in the Bridgnorth area of the county.

Herefordshire Council said a number of roads across the county were submerged, with severe localised flooding affecting Orleton, Brimfield, Yarpole and Kingsland.

The Environment Agency urged people to be on alert for more flash flooding across the Midlands and northern England as the Met Office forecast outbreaks of torrential rain across many central and northern parts of the country.

There is a continued risk of surface water flooding this afternoon and into the evening if drainage systems are overwhelmed by rainfall.