Flash torrential rain and thunder hit Tokyo this week, causing train stations to be flooded, a manhole cover to be blown off by water gushing from underground and people running for cover to wait out the downpour.

The Meteorological Agency has issued warnings across the capital and its vicinity as unstable atmospheric conditions plague the region.

Known colloquially in Japan as “guerrilla rainstorms,” or “guerrilla thunderstorms” when accompanied by thunder, these localized heavy downpours occur suddenly and are difficult to predict.