Navodneniye
A devastating flood strikes London when the Thames Barrier is overwhelmed by a huge surge of water. A storm surge travels between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe, raising sea levels and coinciding with the spring tide. Several parts of Scotland are devastated, including Wick.
The Met Office's head forecaster, Keith Hopkins, mistakenly believes the storm will head towards Holland and is guilt-ridden after Professor Leonard Morrison proves that the approaching surge of water will break through the Thames Barrier and flood central London in the next 3 hours. Leonard had focused his life around the belief that the barrier was built in the wrong area, and turned his now apologetic son Rob into a bitter man.
Deputy Prime Minister Campbell, in charge while the prime minister is away, declares a state of emergency. He begins to evacuate over one million civilians from Central London before the water surge hits. He is assisted by Police Commissioner Patricia Nash, Major General Ashcroft and others.
The Thames barrier is raised, but the huge wave of water (now over 46 meters high) overwhelms the barrier and sweeps into the city. Rob and his ex-wife Sam, both expert engineers, jump into the Thames to escape. Leonard is saved by a military helicopter and taken to Whitehall, where the authority figures desperately require his assistance in finding a way to handle this emergency.
Rob and Sam end up in the London Underground with other survivors. They are led through a ventialtion duct to higher ground by two underground maintenance workers, Bill and Zack. When the surge floods the station, the currents drown Bill. The group find themselves in the flooded Trafalgar Square, where Rob and Sam are able to contact Leonard. They end up returning with him to the barrier, where Leonard believes the water flow can be reversed back out of London, as the tide has turned and the water level is starting to go down. But the military's Ashcroft disagrees and prepares to destroy the barrier with an air strike.
Hopkins, feeling even more guilty when thousands of corpses are shown on a news report, quietly disappears and is later reported by Ashcroft to be dead, an apparent suicide. Nash is at odds with Ashcroft, wanting to give the Morrisons a chance to remedy the situation, while also distraught over her own two missing daughters.
Rob, Sam and Leonard discover the controls to the Thames barrier are now underwater. One can activate them, but likely will not survive the effort. Rob and Sam try to decide which of them should go, but Leonard leaves on the suicide mission behind their backs. He saves London by activating the barrier's controls before running out of air whilst underwater and hence, dying.
Campbell is informed that the Thames barrier has been activated and orders the air strike to be aborted. Rob and Sam lower the Thames barrier and the water flows back out of London.
romantic, murder