A man in his 80s died after his car was submerged in flood-waters amid a deluge of rain across the West Midlands.

Rescuers had to swim 50m to reach the motorist, whose vehicle was “completely underwater” in Walsall.

In Birmingham, more than a month’s rainfall hit parts of the city in an hour on Sunday. Areas of Northamptonshire were also flooded.

Weather warnings have been issued for Monday, while the South East could see the hottest day of the year so far.

Emergency workers were called to Lichfield Road in the Rushall area of Walsall shortly after 02:00 BST on Monday morning.

‘Two inches of breathing space’
West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) paramedic Peter Bowles was at the scene and tweeted that firefighters and ambulance staff had to swim 50m to reach the man.

Four paramedics went into the flood-water and carried out life support, WMAS said.

He was taken to hospital where he died a short time later. His family has been informed.

Drainage engineer Ben Lees had rescued another man from the same road on his way home earlier on Sunday.

He said there was about 2in of breathing space in the car wh