What London would face as tidal wave sweeps up the Thames... for the camera

03 August 2007

A huge tidal surge sweeps up the Thames

A DEVASTATING tidal wave sweeps up the river Thames as disaster strikes at the heart of London.

Tower Bridge and the low-lying Docklands are destroyed as storms similar to those that hit Britain last month, coupled with a high tidal surge from the North Sea, sweep up the estuary.

Even Tower Bridge appears to be swamped

But Londoners shouldn't panic... it's only a magic box of computer tricks in the film studio for a new British disaster movie due for release.

Flood imagines what happens after a raging storm coincides with heavy seas, unleashing a giant tidal wave straight at the capital.

Homes are under 20ft of water

The huge Thames Barrier is overwhelmed, threatening millions and submerging vast areas of the metropolis.

One shot even shows Tower Bridge, the symbol of London itself, being wrecked.

Robert Carlyle plays a marine engineer who only has hours to save the capital from total devastation... with the help of his ex-wife Sam (Jessalyn Gilsig) and father Leonard (Tom Courtenay).

It is based on the 2003 novel by Richard Doyle, who believes it is not a question of if London would ever flood, but when.

He believes the Thames Barrier is obsolete and should be replaced by a larger barrier further down river at Tilbury.

But the Environment Agency dismisses it as nonsense.

"It may make for a good read," says the agency. "But it is not good science."

Flood, which also stars David Suchet, was shot on location in Britain and South Africa.

Producer Justin Bodle said: "The Americans are brilliant at making this kind of disaster movie and have cornered the market.

"But we wanted to make it in a different way and present a grittier, European 'take' on the genre, looking at how real people would deal with the situation."

Flood is due for release later this month (August).