A hotel near King's Cross Station was evacuated early Sunday morning after a burst water main caused significant flooding in the area. London Fire Brigade (LFB)
responded to the incident with crews from eight fire stations and around 60 firefighters. The flooding affected an area of approximately 250 square meters on Pentonville Road.
About 20 guests from a nearby hotel were evacuated due to the rising waters, and the basements of several homes and commercial properties were also impacted. The LFB was alerted to the situation at 04:07 BST and has deployed mobile flood barriers and specialist water rescue teams to manage the flooding.
As a result of the incident, Pentonville Road has been closed to traffic between Penton Rise and King's Cross Road. Islington Council has advised people to avoid the area while emergency crews work to control the situation.
Transport for London reported that 11 bus routes have been diverted due to the flooding. The affected routes include 17, 30, 46, 63, 73, 91, 205, 214, 259, 390, and 476.
Thames Water, responsible for the burst pipe, issued an apology to customers affected by the disruption. Engineers are currently on-site, having identified the burst pipe and stopped the main flow of water. A section of the road has been temporarily closed to allow for safe repairs and drainage of excess water.
In February, Thames Water announced a £20 million project to upgrade the Victorian-era pipes in the area over the next three years, which highlights the ongoing challenges with the aging infrastructure.
Local resident Tina Hodgkinson, who lives on Killick Street near Pentonville Road, reported being woken up at around 04:00 by what she initially thought was heavy rain. However, upon looking outside, she saw a stream of water flowing down the road. Fortunately, her home was not affected by flooding or water outages.
Firefighters are using a drone to survey the flooded area, and local traffic is expected to be heavily impacted. Crews from fire stations in Euston, Islington, Soho, and the surrounding areas are actively managing the situation. The Metropolitan Police are assisting, and Islington Council's emergency response team is also on-site. Photo by Kaihsu Tai, Wikimedia commons.