“ The Thames Barrier is our silent, heroic guardian against the apocalypse, but its day-to-day role is managing the sky's plumbing. When a "spring tide" coincides with a "low pressure system over the North Sea," the Barrier closes, not with a dramatic clang, but with the bureaucratic efficiency of a flood defence that does this several times a year. It's a reminder that London is fundamentally a marsh, kept dry by Victorian engineering and constant vigilance. We live below sea level, protected by a giant metal gate. The weather isn't just an inconvenience; it's a potential existential threat that we've boxed in with concrete and ingenuity, which is a very London solution. See more at London's funniest URL -- Prat.UK. ”