Flood warnings as Thames water level reaches highest for 10 years

Riverside homeowners were today braced for further flooding as stretches of the Thames rose to their highest levels in more than a decade.

The Environment Agency was monitoring water levels and flood defences across swathes of south-west London and Surrey as warnings were in place from Hampton Court to Staines and the Home Counties.

The warnings come as the body of University of Greenwich student Harry Martin, 18, was found near his home in Devon after more than a week of searching. He is the second man from the London area to died in the recent storms.

Today his family paid tribute to the aspiring filmmaker, who was last seen leaving home to take pictures of the storm.

Father Anthony Martin, 57, who works for engineering services firm Babcock International, told the Standard: “I was out there every day from dawn until dusk looking for him. We’re so upset, we have lost our dearest son.

“We were so proud of him, he was a fantastic boy.”

He added: “He came home with a couple of antique cameras which intrigued him and it was with one of those that he went to take pictures of the sea. It was an experiment, expanding on his skills and seeing what he could do.

“It’s just a case of walking up the top of the hill and across the fields to get to the sea.

“Unfortunately when he left there was no-one at home.

“It seemed fairly safe and it was a very calm day compared to the others. It was sunny and clear and they’re not surroundings he is unfamiliar with.”

Harry, a straight As student at Plymouth College of Art, disappeared on January 2 from his home in Newton Ferrers, Devon, prompting a large-scale search operation with the help of more than 400 local volunteers.

He was found by kayakers at around 10am on Saturday. Last night police said his body was yet to be formally identified.

Last week writer Harry Swordy, from Guilford, Surrey, was named as the 27-year-old who died in Cornwall after taking a swim in the early hours of New Year’s day.