Cars were left stranded after a ‘supermoon’ high tide caused water to flood a street in west London.
Vehicles parked on Chiswick Mall were surrounded by more than three feet of water after heavy flooding on Saturday.
A video posted on X shows the cars on the flooded street with a man wading along to assess the damage.
The video caption says: “Recent supermoon has caused a larger tide flow on the Thames than usual. This person parked their car here in Chiswick 20 mins ago, came back from the pub and the car was stranded. Looks like they’ll need to go have another pint. This does usually happen but not quite as rapidly after the supermoon.”
A flood alert for the area was also put out by the Environment Agency on Saturday with spring tides and high river flows as a factor contributing to the high water levels.
The alert also referred to Putney Embankment, Strand on the Green and Thames Bank at Mortlake.
Recent supermoon has caused a larger tide flow on the Thames than usual. This person parked their car here in Chiswick 20 mins/ 1 pint ago, comes back from the pub and the car is stranded. Looks like they’ll need to go have another pint.
— Sol Goodman (@Costa_Del_Sol93) October 19, 2024
This does usually happen but not quite… pic.twitter.com/8t5t1iTGzr
Chiswick Mall regularly floods and there is a lifeboat station in Chiswick which often rescues people cut off by the tide.
David Clarke, formerly part of Chiswick Lifeboat Crew, told Chiswick Calendar: “There are times when we wonder whether people are just not aware that the river is tidal.
Many times a year we are asked to check cars that are half submerged and sometimes they can float and need to be secured to prevent a hazard to navigation.”
Supermoons, which come when the moon is at its closest to the earth, can trigger higher tides than usual. The brightest so far this year was on Thursday.
