london was hit with flooding over the weekend after friday's solar eclipse saw tides across the country swell the environment agency issued 24 flood alerts across the uk with rescue teams called to a number of incidents on the coast in chiswick, west london, motorists ploughed through flooded streets after the tide climbed three metres in height as a result of the rare eclipse parts of chiswick in west london flooded over the weekend after the solar eclipse which caused higher tides  the thames barrier closed over the weekend to protect london from further flooding above, a cyclist in chiswick drudges through the water  the thames barrier closed on saturday to protect london from the high tides linked to the solar eclipse and 'supermoon' which caused rising water levels flood alerts were issued across much of the country with the met office predicting that some areas would still be affected today the rising tides came after friday's solar eclipse, the first of its kind for 16 years with the sun and moon aligning, higher tides were to be expected but added to the fact the earth was at its closest point to both, they were slightly larger than usual enthusiasts hailed the phenomenon as the 'supertide of the century', with hundreds flocking to coastal points across the country some encountered trouble at sea as a result of the weather, with one family plucked from watergate bay in newquay by a lifeboat after becoming trapped in a cove a grandmother and her two granddaughters had to be rescued when the waters became too high rnli volunteer lifeboat operations manager gareth horner said: 'the group were a bit damp but unharmed after becoming trapped around three hours before high water as often happens along this stretch of coast' the combination of the eclipse and the earth being at its closes point to the moon and sun caused water levels to rise a child narrowly avoids a soaking in chiswick, west london yesterday  the environment agency issued more than 20 flood alerts over the weekend withs ome parts expected to have trouble until monday  an hour later the same team rescued a couple by the tide on towan island, while four teenagers were plucked from chest high water elsewhere one dorset coastguard officer said in his 24 years working for the service he had never seen the tide come back in so quickly the four foreign teenagers, who didn't speak much english, called the emergency services panicking because they were lost and becoming cut off by a rising tide near old harry rocks anne marie clerk from poole lifeboat said: 'the group didn't know the area and had carried on walking along the shore near old harry because the tide was extremely low 'they raised the alarm sometime after 5pm when they realised they couldn't get back 'they were under the cliff and there was loose rock behind them so they couldn't climb out and the water was up to their chests 'they were all fine but they were really oblivious to what danger they had been in 'the tides come back so quickly and it was fortunate they had phones with them, although only one was working when they called for help because the others had been damaged by the water' poole volunteer lifeboat coxswain jonathan clark added: 'we are experiencing very extreme spring tides and low waters at the moment due to the spring equinox and areas of the foreshore are being exposed' he added the youngsters were 'exceptionally lucky' not to have found themselves in more danger roaring waves at the promenade in roker, sunderland, on saturday some 24 hours after the eclipse  britain was been battered with extreme tides over the weekend in tynemouth, north tyneside, waves crashed over the seawall as a result  the 'supertide of the century' has been good news for surfers and more than 40 turned out to catch a rare 6ft high wave on the river severn on saturday (above) the rare eclipse on friday morning was the first of its kind for 16 years above, a view of the phenomenon from derby 
solar eclipse uk the thames barrier london
friday's solar eclipse caused tide levels to rise significantly across uk  the thames barrier was closed on saturday while parts of london flooded  a number of lifeboats were called to rescue people along the coasts  one volunteer said he had never seen tides come in and out so quickly 