Satellite image shows surface water runoff after floods

The dark brown area shows the surface water runoff from the recent floods. It happens when the soil is so saturated excess water from rain flows over the land.

A sinkhole has appeared in a street in south London. The Sutton Guardian reports the hole is around three feet deep and swallowed the wheel of a car in Maldon Road in Wallington.

Sinkholes are caused when the underlying rock is washed away - more exactly by the acid picked up by rain water as it passes through rotting vegetation.

That creates cavities underground which streams can flow through - the more water that flows the quicker the erosion.

Read more: Martin Stew explains what causes sinkholes.

Tests carried out by scientists in the Thames Valley have revealed high levels of bacteria in the flood waters that have blighted communities for more than seven weeks.

Experts at Reading University have been testing the rising waters from the Thames and the Kennet which have turned roads into rivers and damaged hundreds of homes and businesses.

As, Mel Bloor reports, the concern is now for the health of those caught up in the floods.

The Enviroment Agency says water levels on the lower Thames have now stabilised.

Dave Pope says he saw a "splash of orange" as he walked down a street in Egham. He said to himself: "Ello, ello! A goldfish!" He then spotted three of them - and put them in a teapot.

Read more: Snail uses empty bag of sweets as a raft to escape the rising floodwater