Cars submerged under water as high spring tides bring flooding to South-West London, UK

Submerged cars: Flooding at Richmond on Friday (Picture: Robert Jackson)

High tides on the River Thames left cars submerged under several feet of water in west London today.

 

Flood alerts have been issued by the Environment Agency for riverside properties over the weekend amid warnings due to exceptionally high tides on the Thames.

 

And burst river banks at Richmond left cars submerged under floodwater on Friday afternoon.

 

Warnings were also in place for parts of Twickenham, Chiswick and Bermondsey.

 

Thames Barrier operators earlier warned of “very high tides” on Friday afternoon and Saturday.

Two children wade through floodwater in Richmond (Picture: Robert Jackson)

In spring last year, high tides at Richmond saw a luxury yacht crash into a bridge due to rapidly rising water levels.

 

The Thames Barrier is expected to fit to protect London form flooding until around 2050, according to the Environment Agency.

Submerged: vast swathes of London would have been underwater if not for the Thames Barrier (Picture: Environment Agency)

The 1,700ft-long shield, which started operating in 1983, protects about 1.2 million people and property worth £200 billion.

 

Last winter, the barrier was closed a record-breaking 50 times between December 2013 and the end of February 2014 as parts of the south-east were hit by severe flooding.

Courtesy of London Evening Standard

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