TORRENTIAL storms and overnight rain has caused havoc on the roads as Berkshire woke up this morning.

About half a month's rain fell in just a few hours, as thunderstorms lit up the night sky across the region.

The worst-hit areas are across the east, south and south-east of England which all have amber warnings in place, according to the Met Office.

Pictures on social media show severely waterlogged rail stations and roads, including Didcot Parkway, Newbury and Chieveley stations across Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

Water can be seen rising up stairwells and partly submerging ticket barriers at Didcot Parkway station.

A narrow corridor west of London is expected to be hit by "exceptionally heavy, thundery rain" accompanied by hail on Friday, the Met Office said.

Fire chiefs advised motorists to avoid driving through flooded roads and turn around as pictures emerged of Maidenhead High Street resembling a swimming pool.

Thames Valley Police has said it is responding to a number of reports of flooding in Maidenhead, Newbury and Chieveley areas.

There is severe disruption to roads including the M4 at the A34 junction with Newbury, and Norreys Drive, Wootton Way, Queen Street, Braywick Road and part of the High Street in Maidenhead, which are all being closed.

Two lanes and the entry slip road to the M4 westbound at junction 8/9 (Maidenhead) were closed this morning because of flooding. 

Police are working with the Fire Service and Highways Agency to respond to the flooding and officers are in affected areas to assist with road closures and support residents and businesses. 

Motorists are advised to be vigilant and to only make journeys that are essential. 

Road users are urged to observe road closures as they have been put in place for a reason, and not to drive through them.

Stay safe and remain cautious when undertaking journeys in affected areas and avoiding driving through flood water. The water is often deeper than it looks and can be fast moving.

Flood warning and alerts on waterways have been issued by the Environment Agency. 

The stormy weather has caused major disruption on the railways, with National Rail reporting severe delays and cancellations across the network. 

Commuters travelling to London Paddington this morning were facing delays of 15 minutes after lightning damaged signalling equipment near Slough. Trains travelling on the Reading to Westbury line were also delayed by 30 minutes.

Newbury station was flooded overnight and rail services were unable to stop at the station.

Met Office meteorologist Martin Combe said 32.8mm of rain had fallen in just three hours in Farnborough, Hampshire - nearly half the 70mm average for September.

He said: "The showers and thunderstorms are going to carry on for quite some time moving slowly north and eastwards, remaining around London through the morning and all afternoon in East Anglia."

The weather front is due to send temperatures tumbling ahead of the weekend, just days after parts of the country baked in 34C (93F) heat.