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0.80

Farmoor

Thames
Cotswolds catchment • Farmoor • Oxfordshire • ID: 1100TH • Level
(23m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 171 views

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Current Level
0.799 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.806 mASD
24h Min
0.797 mASD
Typical Range
0.50 - 1.30
mASD
Highest Recorded
3.69 mASD
15 May 2025
Since Sep 1992
Current level is 22% of this
Current Flow
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🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.2 cm over 6h
23 Aug 23:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.799 mASD
23 Aug 23:15 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 23:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.798 mASD
23 Aug 22:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.799 mASD
23 Aug 21:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 21:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.799 mASD
23 Aug 21:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 20:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.799 mASD
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 19:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 19:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.801 mASD
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 18:45 ▬ steady 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 18:30 ▬ steady 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 18:15 ▬ steady 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 18:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.800 mASD
23 Aug 17:45 0.801 mASD

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2008 for the 9 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.4 km away).

44flood warnings 156flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 29 Nov 2024River Thames and tributaries at New Botley, New Hinksey, North Hinksey, South Hinksey and Grandpont

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 18
2025 0 8
2024 10 17
2023 2 19
2022 0 4
2021 4 5
2020 5 8
2019 0 10
2018 0 7
2017 0 4
2016 1 10
2015 0 2
2014 12 1
2013 0 10
2012 10 10
2011 0 1
2010 0 8
2009 0 7
2008 0 7

Warnings apply to a whole flood area, not necessarily this exact spot. Years before 2006 aren't covered by the EA's historic record. See also the Farmoor flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Farmoor
  • Watercourse: River Thames
  • Nearest Town: Farmoor
  • County: Oxfordshire
  • Nearest reservoir: Farmoor (0.9 km) · 92.0% full (as of 31 Jul 2026)
  • Coordinates: 51°45'27"N 1°21'59"W (51.757544, -1.366384)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1991
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 1100TH
  • EA Gauge ID: 1100TH-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 3 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Cotswolds
  • Typical Range: 0.500 – 1.300 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 1,609 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.80 mASD (EA at 23 Aug 23:15)
  • Flow Archive: National River Flow Archive ↗

Geographic coordinates may reflect the access point for the gauge, and not the precise location in the watercourse that it is taking readings from.

Catchment Character

🌊 Groundwater-fed Slow and steady — fed largely by groundwater, so levels change gradually, not in sudden spikes.

Your catchment is all the land that drains rainfall into the river above this gauge. Its character — how steep, wet, wooded, urban or chalky that land is — decides how fast rain here turns into a rising river. A steep, bare or clay catchment is “flashy” (rises and falls quickly, floods easily); a flat, chalk or well-wooded one is slow and steady. The tiles below put numbers to that; the flow-duration curve reads left-to-right from the river’s typical high flows (Q5) down to its low flows (Q95) — a steep curve means a flashy river.

The physical character of the land that drains to this gauge, and how it shapes its flood response — from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).

Baseflow Index
0.69
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
798 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
2.7%
largely rural
Highest Recorded Flow
74.10 m³/s
15 Jan 1994
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 15.5954.009.470.9755% (high)% of days exceeded95% (low)
Daily flow (m³/s) exceeded each % of the time — a steep curve is flashy, a flat one is steady. Q5 high · Q50 median · Q95 low.
Land Cover (2023)
Woodland 8%Grassland 44%Arable 39%Urban 8%Other 2%
Arable 47% → 39% since 1990

Flow affected by: public water supply.

Photos

Gauging-station photographs from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).

Photos © NRFA / UKCEH & the measuring authority — shown at web resolution. Full gallery on the NRFA ↗

About this gauge

Ultrasonic gauging station located on the main River Thames, downstream of the intake for Farmoor Reservoir.

More detail

The catchment

Catchment is predominantly rural u/s of the station. The geology is mixed - pervious headwaters (Oolitic l'st), Oxford Clay in the lower reaches.

The station

Multi-path cross-configuration US.

How it measures flow

Substantial left-bank by-passing (not via the Thames itself) under flood conditions.

Flow regime

Levels affected by d/s gate movements, abstractions and lockages.

The flow record

Drought flow accuracy uncertain (at very low velocities) and gaugings suggest that flows may be overestimated by around 5%. Naturalised flows not routinely calculated.

Descriptions from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH). NRFA station record ↗

Gauge Details

How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).

Gauge type
Ultrasonic
Operating since
1992
Station datum
60.0 mAOD
Flow record
1992–2024 · 32 yrs · 99% complete
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Thames at Farmoor flooding today?

The current level is 0.80m, which is within the typical range of 0.50 to 1.30m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Farmoor?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, updated roughly every 15 minutes.

Why is the level slowly falling?

When little or no rain has fallen for a while, a river level gradually drops as the water stored in the ground and soil drains away with nothing to replace it. This is called baseflow recession and is normal in dry spells. Only about 2.0mm of rain has fallen nearby in the last 7 days, so the flow is being sustained mainly by groundwater. A gentle decline like this is expected and is not a sign of a problem — downstream gauges often recede a little faster than headwaters further upstream, and levels recover once rain returns.

What is a normal level for the River Thames at Farmoor?

The typical range at this station is 0.50m to 1.30m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.30m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.

How often is this river level data updated?

Readings are taken by the Environment Agency gauge roughly every 15 minutes and FloodRadar refreshes its data continuously, so the level shown is normally less than an hour old.

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📮 Flood risk by postcode near this gauge

Postcodes within 5 km with properties in the Environment Agency’s rivers-and-sea flood-risk bands:

Check any UK postcode’s flood risk →

🏠 Buying or renting around here? Get the Property Flood-Risk Report for any English postcode — official risk band, floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →