Iconic Thames party boat sinks during torrential downpour

A floating nightclub sank in central London as Storm Henk culminated in a final deluge of rain on Thursday.

The Bar & Co boat, which opens as a restaurant and bar during the day, was moored at Temple Pier, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge.

Coastguards said they were alerted to the sinking at around 12.30pm and that everyone who had been on board was ‘accounted for’.

The incident prompted London’s riverway authorities to warn vessels to use ‘great caution’ if they need to pass the pier.

The top of the sunken party boat’s mast and rigging could seen protruding from the water on Friday morning.

A spokesperson for Bar & Co said: ‘Likely it sunk because of weather conditions.’

Boats from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade were dispatched in response to the incident.

An astonishing 302 flood warnings – indicating ‘likely’ further flooding – were in place across the UK on Friday morning.

In Leicestershire, a narrowboat was left trapped against a bridge amid flooding along the River Soar.

The vessel appeared to be on the verge of sinking or overturning after floodwaters pushed it horizontally against two of the bridge’s arches.

Storm Henk appears to have subsided, with Met Office forecasts indicating only patches of rain and lighter winds over the coming days.

But this week’s heavy rain has left the ground saturated and more prone to flooding across swathes of England.

Stefan Laeger, of the Environment Agency, said: ‘Significant surface water and river flooding impacts are possible across parts of the Midlands and the south and east of England on Thursday and Friday due to heavy localised rainfall falling on already very saturated catchments.

‘Ongoing minor impacts are also likely across much of England over the next five days as some larger rivers slowly respond to recent and forecast rain.’

The highest rainfall totals recorded on Thursday were 35.2mm at Otterbourne in Hampshire, with a wide range of 20-30mm across much of the southern counties of England.

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