Heavy rain swamped parts of Devon and Cornwall - bringing some flooding - as the humid conditions finally burst through the heatwave.
Torrents of water poured down hills, flooded roads and even burst up through manhole covers as the clouds opened over the region.
Motorists faced treacherous driving conditions as pools of water formed on the roads and the rain came down so fast that it hampered visibility.
Fire crews had to rescue a man and a woman from a car in Gdynia Way, Prince Rock, Plymouth, shortly before midnight as the car became stranded in flood water. The driver and passenger were both unharmed.
Water was spotted gushing down many residential streets, including in Plymouth where the power of the gushing water burst open manhole covers in Weston Park Road in Peverell, among other places, sending water spouting up like a fountain in the roads.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue service also reported that crews were called to a three-storey building in Stuart Road in Stoke, Plymouth, where rain water had poured in through a hole in the roof caused by a previous fire and flooded the property, shortly before 11.20pm last night.
A crew on an aerial ladder platform helped secure a waterproof cover to keep out the deluge.
A property in Mersey Close, Deer Park, Plymouth, was also flooded by rainwater coming in through the bathroom ceiling.
The rainstorm seemed more like a tropical storm than an English summer downpour as the heavy rains poured through the warm air.
In Cornwall, there were heavy downpours across the county, with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service announcing on Twitter just before 10pm that it was investigating reports of flooding in Bodmin and Helston, while there were reports of localised flooding in many areas.
In Devon, the rain began to ease off in the west of the county by about 12.30am this morning, after reports of rainfall lashing down across Dartmoor and over Exeter and surrounding areas.
The Exeter-based Met Office said bursts of heavy rain would spread erratically eastwards through the evening and overnight into Thursday morning, giving parts of the west in particular their first significant rain for some time.
A Met Office spokesman said: "This rain should ease later in the night, becoming patchy by dawn."
