← Back
🌊 Tide going out · high water in ~5h

Poole Harbour

Dorset Coast 🌊 Tidal
Frome, Piddle, Poole Harbour and Purbeck catchment • Poole • Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole • ID: 44232 • 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.
(1h ago) • 4 readings/hr • 107 views

Set water level alerts

Get notified about Poole Harbour — 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 m/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/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
-0.105 mAOD
▼ Falling (-50cm/hr)
24h Max
0.626 mAOD
24h Min
-0.513 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
1.64 mAOD
EA official record
A 5.90 reading (12 Jul 2014) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
🚽 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

Falling · -68 cm over 6h
08 Oct 01:30 ▼▼ -13 cm -0.105 mAOD
08 Oct 01:15 ▼▼ -12 cm 0.029 mAOD
08 Oct 01:00 ▼▼ -10 cm 0.146 mAOD
08 Oct 00:45 ▼▼ -8 cm 0.250 mAOD
08 Oct 00:30 ▼ -5 cm 0.330 mAOD
08 Oct 00:15 ▼ -2 cm 0.380 mAOD
08 Oct 00:00 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.404 mAOD
07 Oct 23:45 ▲ +2 cm 0.401 mAOD
07 Oct 23:30 ▲ +13 cm 0.377 mAOD
07 Oct 22:30 ▼ -2 cm 0.246 mAOD
07 Oct 22:15 ▼ -3 cm 0.262 mAOD
07 Oct 22:00 ▼▼ -6 cm 0.292 mAOD
07 Oct 21:45 ▼▼ -6 cm 0.351 mAOD
07 Oct 21:30 ▼ -5 cm 0.408 mAOD
07 Oct 21:15 ▼ -4 cm 0.457 mAOD
07 Oct 21:00 ▼ -3 cm 0.499 mAOD
07 Oct 20:45 ▼ -1 cm 0.525 mAOD
07 Oct 20:30 ▼ -2 cm 0.539 mAOD
07 Oct 20:15 ▼ -2 cm 0.558 mAOD
07 Oct 20:00 0.578 mAOD

Station Details

Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 44232
  • RLOI id: 3279 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 44232-level-1-i-15_min-mAOD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mAOD
  • Typical rise rate: 59 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: 🌊 Yes — levels follow the tide
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Frome, Piddle, Poole Harbour and Purbeck
  • EA Cross-check: -0.25 mAOD (EA at 8 Oct 01:45)

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

Nearby Stations

Gauges connected to this river, and others nearby. A distance “by river” follows the river on the map; any other is in a straight line.

Nearby

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 10 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.5 km away).

146flood warnings 462flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 2 Feb 2026 — Poole Harbour at West Quay and Lower Hamworthy Quay

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 5 15
2025 13 23
2024 26 43
2023 16 31
2022 6 26
2021 2 10
2020 15 39
2019 8 46
2018 3 37
2017 1 22
2016 6 33
2015 1 25
2014 12 58
2013 9 24
2012 9 25
2011 0 5
2010 1 0
2009 5 0
2008 2 0
2007 5 0
2006 1 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 Poole flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 10 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 2 more

Frequently asked questions

Is the Dorset Coast at Poole Harbour flooding today?

The latest recorded level is -0.11m. 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 Poole Harbour?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling. The chart above shows the last 12 hours of measurements by default (up to 7 days), 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 supplied by the Environment Agency gauge. FloodRadar checks for updates roughly every 15 minutes; the timestamp above shows how recent the latest available reading is.

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, recorded floods, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →