Thames barrier forced to shut again

The threat of high tides and swollen rivers has forced the Thames Barrier to be shut for the third time in two days.

But the risk of flooding and the number of flood warnings in England and Wales will probably lessen, despite the heavy rain at the weekend, the Environment Agency said.

The same storm ravaged Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain passed over the UK,bringing downpours.

The agency said 17 flood warnings and 135 flood watches are in place across England and Wales and the sea may flood the south coasts of England because of high tides and high river levels.

Craig Woolhouse, the Environment Agency's head of incident management, said: "We are continuing to closely monitor river and sea levels but many of the flood warnings we issued are being downgraded."

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