Parks and fields under water after two days of record-breaking rain

London residents were urged to stay clear of watercourses for the rest of the week, Wednesday, as parks along the Thames River and Thames Valley Parkway experience flooding.

The warningscamein the wake of two consecutive days of record-breaking rainfall in London, and markthe third consecutive day offlooding in the region.Heavy rainfall on Monday broke local weather records set more than a century ago. Tuesday's rainfall of 44.7 mm barely surpassed a 43 mm record set in 1988, according to Environment Canada.

Gibbons Park, including the spray pad, playground and pool, was closed in response to the flooding. The North London Athletic Fields, Northridge Fields and Fanshawe Quarry golf course werealso closed.Greenway Park, Harris Park and River Forks Park were among areas also under water Wednesday.

"During this time, Londoners should be extremely cautious around the river, and keep children and pets away from any flooded areas," the City of London said in a statement. "Watercourses are fast-moving and the riverbank is soft and slippery."

The ground is now saturated thanks to Tuesday's additional rainfall, and there is nowhere left for the water to be absorbed. It will take several days for floodplain areas to drain and river levels to return to normal, said Eleanor Heagy, communications and marketing co-ordinator for the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA).

"If you're looking for when this system is going to pass through the upstream areas, you know, Mitchell and Tavistock down through St. Marys, those flows are kind of hitting their peaks now," said Heagy. "And so the peak flows are gradually making their way downstream. We expect the Thames through London to be peaking later today and into tonight."

Predicting the return to normal levels depends on whether or not there's more rainfall, she added. Until then, Londoners are not allowed to do any boating, canoeing or kayaking along the Thames River and elsewhere in the watershed.

Flooding from the rain on Monday halted traffic in and around the city. Additional rain on Tuesday damaged basements and led to the cancellation of the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival scheduled this weekend in Harris Park.

Environment Canada measured 59.3 mm of rainfall in the region on Monday, breaking the previous record of 45.2 mm set for that day in 1923.

More to come, predicts climatologist

Rains like what Londonand other parts of southern Ontario like Toronto experienced in recent days,are becoming more common, according to a climatologist at Western University.

"[These rains] arehaving very tragic effects on people and institutions and properties. It's the reality of the changing climate, where we're having global warming take place. It's ramping up the number of extreme weather-related events like heavy precipitation," said Gordon McBean, a professor emeritus at the university.

As explained by McBean, a warmer atmosphere means more evaporation, a better capacity for the atmosphere to hold water vapourand more condensation. That meansmore intense concentrated rainfall events, like the one onMonday, during which almost 60 mm of rain fell in roughly two hours.

Moving forwardit will be imperative for cities, including London, to keep climate change in mind when designing and upgrading sewer and drainage infrastructure, according to McBean.

McBean said he expects morerecords to be broken each year.