Thames Water Levels (Historical View?)

[Thomas C King]

We want to get from the Oxford Canal down to the Kennet and Avon, and this means getting past a lock near Oxford before it is closed for repairs next month. The problem is, if we can't safely get onto the Thames then we'll be stuck in a tiny stretch between Oxford and Thrupp.

 

I was wondering how long 'rising flow' or 'red' warnings generally last on the Thames? I can't see a historical view of the Environment Agency's warnings. Are we generally talking a few days, or potentially weeks?

[Tony Brooks]

It all depends upon the rain in the catchment area and I suspect much of it got 25mm in the last 30 hours. Much of this has yet to reach the Thames and the forecasts are not looking god for you at the moment. The Environment Agency does or did have pages that showed the water levels at gauging stations on all the river catchment areas. I am off to try to locate it now.

 

can't find it, sorry.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Tony Brooks

[jonesthenuke]

Have a look at this site, it gives data back to 2013 and you can zoom into selected time periods to get a view of the time that the river was high. I have selected Thrupp as a place local to you but there are measuring points all over the country.

 

https://riverlevels.uk/cherwell-shipton-on-cherwell-and-thrupp-thrupp#.X5FVAi9Q2DU

 

 

[mrsmelly]

The river in Oxford at present is near normal and falling. If there isnt a lot of rain forecast you will be fine, its a quick trip to the K and A say a couple or 3 days.

[Bacchus]

It is a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question unfortunately - can be a few days, can be months! "typical" would probably be three days rising, three high, three falling

 

One day's rain doesn't necessarily mean red boards, but on top of the rain from a couple of weeks ago, I suspect that there will be a bit of a flood coming down. The upper reaches are narrower and tend to be more volatile

 

This page gives an overview of the whole river, it is possible to follow the "hump" going down with a sequence of rising/high/falling

 

 

 

[Paringa]

Days and Abingdon lock closures are now back to the 9th November, although there is one brief restriction for work at Whitchurch on the 4th.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/river-thames-restrictions-and-closures

 

We have had some rain and yellow boards are appearing on some reaches. I have seen boats coming past me today heading down, I am upstream of Shillingford and due to head up to Abingdon myself soon. The outlook is fairly dry weather wise.

 

http://riverconditions.environment-agency.gov.uk/

 

My opinion is you will make quick passage over a couple of days. Go while you can...

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, Paringa said:

Days and Abingdon lock closures are now back to the 9th November, although there is one brief restriction for work at Whitchurch on the 4th.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/river-thames-restrictions-and-closures

 

We have had some rain and yellow boards are appearing on some reaches. I have seen boats coming past me today heading down, I am upstream of Shillingford and due to head up to Abingdon myself soon. The outlook is fairly dry weather wise.

 

http://riverconditions.environment-agency.gov.uk/

 

My opinion is you will make quick passage over a couple of days. Go while you can...

Agreed.

[Tony Brooks]

The Thames board level page suggests to me that the Windrush is high and putting a lot of water into the Thames.

[bizzard]

36 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

It all depends upon the rain in the catchment area and I suspect much of it got 25mm in the last 30 hours. Much of this has yet to reach the Thames and the forecasts are not looking god for you at the moment. The Environment Agency does or did have pages that showed the water levels at gauging stations on all the river catchment areas. I am off to try to locate it now.

 

can't find it, sorry.

Shoothill gauge maps is good.