← Back
🌊 Tide going out · low water in ~2h

Bournemouth

Tide 🌊 Tidal
England - South Coast catchment • Bournemouth • Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole • ID: E71939 • Level
This gauge is tidally influenced — levels rise and fall with each tide, so rapid changes here are normal and don't necessarily indicate flooding.
(57m ago) • 2 readings/hr • 139 views

Set water level alerts

Get notified about Bournemouth — tick as many as you like, they all share the notify settings below.

You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 mAOD/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.

Each one is saved as its own alert — pause or remove them individually any time.

Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on EA/SEPA data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
0.281 mAOD
▼ Falling (-15cm/hr)
24h Max
0.511 mAOD
24h Min
-0.016 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
5.92 mAOD
13 Feb 2020
Since Jul 2017
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Flood predictions aren't generated for tidal gauges — their levels are driven by the tide, not by catchment rainfall, so the forecast models would have no skill here.

Recent Readings

Rising · +1 cm over 7h
23 Aug 22:30 ▼ -4 cm 0.281 mAOD
23 Aug 22:15 ▼ -5 cm 0.319 mAOD
23 Aug 21:00 ▼ -2 cm 0.365 mAOD
23 Aug 20:45 ▲ +1 cm 0.380 mAOD
23 Aug 20:15 ▲ +0.9 cm 0.370 mAOD
23 Aug 20:00 ▲ +1 cm 0.361 mAOD
23 Aug 19:45 ▲ +0.8 cm 0.351 mAOD
23 Aug 19:30 ▼ -1 cm 0.343 mAOD
23 Aug 19:15 ▲ +2 cm 0.357 mAOD
23 Aug 19:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.334 mAOD
23 Aug 18:45 ▼ -0.7 cm 0.333 mAOD
23 Aug 18:30 ▲ +0.7 cm 0.340 mAOD
23 Aug 18:15 ▲ +2 cm 0.333 mAOD
23 Aug 18:00 ▲ +1 cm 0.316 mAOD
23 Aug 17:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.304 mAOD
23 Aug 17:30 ▲ +1 cm 0.305 mAOD
23 Aug 17:00 ▲ +0.7 cm 0.293 mAOD
23 Aug 16:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.286 mAOD
23 Aug 16:30 ▲ +2 cm 0.285 mAOD
23 Aug 16:00 0.270 mAOD

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2007 for the 16 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 5.5 km away).

7severe warnings 224flood warnings 324flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 7 Feb 2026Lower Stour from Sturminster Marshall to Christchurch

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 1 18 9
2025 0 17 15
2024 0 38 42
2023 0 20 28
2022 0 5 26
2021 0 6 8
2020 0 19 28
2019 0 11 23
2018 0 6 17
2017 0 2 14
2016 0 10 23
2015 0 2 15
2014 3 34 38
2013 2 8 19
2012 0 22 15
2011 0 0 4
2009 1 2 0
2008 0 2 0
2007 0 2 0

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 Bournemouth flood history.

Nearby Stations

Loading nearby stations...

Station Details

  • Station Reference: E71939
  • EA Gauge ID: E71939-level-tidal_level-Mean-15_min-mAOD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mAOD
  • Typical rise rate: 51 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~37 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: 🌊 Yes — levels follow the tide
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: England - South Coast
  • EA Cross-check: 0.32 mAOD (EA at 23 Aug 22:15)

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

Frequently asked questions

Is the Tide at Bournemouth flooding today?

The latest recorded level is 0.28m. Compare it with the recent history on the chart above to judge whether levels are unusually high.

Is the river level rising or falling at Bournemouth?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling. 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. 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.

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.

Embed this gauge on your website

Free live river-level widget — ideal for parish councils, angling clubs and local sites. Updates automatically.

Preview

📮 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 →