It was due to be an extremely high tide in Richmond and Twickenham last weekend.

On Friday the forecast height was 4.7m at high tide, and many residents said they had not seen it so high in many years.

The Thames was then set to reach a height of 5.1m at Richmond Lock on Sunday - but it did not materialise.

This is because the Environment Agency fell back on its ultimate flood defence tool, the Thames Barrier.

Situated across a 520m stretch of the river in Charlton, it is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "The Thames Barrier is normally operated to coincide with exceptionally high spring tides, to ensure river levels in the capital are safely contained and to protect central London from flooding.

"The barrier was closed on three occasions for several hours on successive days between Saturday, January 30 and Monday, February 1.

"The main purpose of these closures provided protection to properties near the Thames to the west of London, such as at Trowlock Island and Thames Ditton.

"Free flood alerts for any location in England are available from gov.uk, or from Floodline: 0345 988 1188."

It was the 196, 197 and 198th times the barrier has been used since its first operation in 1982.

Reopening and tide tables in Richmond

Twitter user @AlanBarrierEA who works for the Environment Agency's Forecasting and Response team provides regular updates on tidal levels.

He said the barrier was reopened shortly after 5pm on Monday (February 1) as the forthcoming tides will not put any homes at risk of flooding.

At Richmond Lock, Tuesday's high tide will be at 6.21pm with low tide at 2.32pm.

On Wednesday, early birds can catch high tide at 6.29am and again at 7.03pm. Low tide is 2.45pm.

About the Thames Barrier

The barrier is made up of 61 gates, each 20m high which can withstand water loads of up to 9,000 tonnes.

Individual gates can be closed in 10 minutes, but it takes an hour and a half to close the full barrier.

Watch a video showing how the barrier works at the top of this story.