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0.16

Bourne End

Wye
Cherwell Thame and Wye catchment • Bourne End • Buckinghamshire • ID: 2590TH • Level
(37m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 218 views

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Current Level
0.161 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.168 mASD
24h Min
0.161 mASD
Typical Range
0.11 - 0.38
mASD
Highest Recorded
0.47 mASD
EA official record
A 0.60 reading (13 Jan 2013) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 34% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 5h
08 Oct 10:15 ▬ steady 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 10:00 ▬ steady 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 09:45 ▬ steady 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 09:30 ▬ steady 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 09:15 ▬ steady 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 09:00 ▬ steady 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 08:45 ▬ steady 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 08:30 ▬ steady 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 08:15 ▬ steady 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 08:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 07:45 ▬ steady 0.162 mASD
08 Oct 07:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.162 mASD
08 Oct 07:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 07:00 ▬ steady 0.162 mASD
08 Oct 06:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.162 mASD
08 Oct 06:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 06:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.162 mASD
08 Oct 06:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.161 mASD
08 Oct 05:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.162 mASD
08 Oct 05:30 0.161 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Bourne End
  • Watercourse: River Wye
  • Nearest Town: Bourne End
  • County: Buckinghamshire
  • Coordinates: 51°34'16"N 0°42'31"W (51.571155, -0.708557)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1984
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 2590TH
  • RLOI id: 7161 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 2590TH-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 1 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Cherwell Thame and Wye
  • Typical Range: 0.114 – 0.380 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 137 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 6 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.16 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 10:15)
  • 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.

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.

Connected upstream

Connected downstream

Same river system, separate branch

Distances by river: OS Open Rivers. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

💧 Storm overflows upstream of this gauge

Storm overflows whose water reaches this gauge on the mapped river network, nearest first by distance along the river. The status is each water company's monitor: it says whether an overflow is discharging, not how much or what it contains.

1 storm overflow is traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 8.8 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 1 reports not discharging.

💧
Thames Water · into Wye · 8.8 km upstream along the river
5 spills · 98 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

1 other overflow within 6 km is downstream of this gauge or on another branch of the river network, so it is not listed.

These are the water companies' monitor statuses; a spill does not by itself explain a change in the gauge level. River connections and distances are traced on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels. Explore the sewage map →

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

How often this river runs high

In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 0.38 m on about 1 day. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 2 days
2024 3 days
2023 0 days
2022 0 days
2021 1 day
2020 0 days
2019 0 days
2018 0 days
2017 0 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2014 for the 3 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 2.5 km away).

1flood warning 13flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 4 Oct 2020 — River Wye from West Wycombe down to Bourne End

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2025 0 3
2024 0 5
2020 1 0
2018 0 1
2016 0 1
2014 0 3

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 Bourne End flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 3 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

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
0.80
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
805 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
11%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
2.74 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
3.35 m³/s
12 Feb 2001 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.9951.690.9380.4895% (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 20%Grassland 39%Arable 19%Urban 22%

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, industrial / agricultural abstraction.

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

The lowest site on the Wye, located downstream of Wycombe.

More detail

The catchment

Dip-slope valley in the Chiltern. A mainly pervious (Chalk) catchment with an overburden of Clay-with-Flints (glacial deposits) on the higher ground. Rural headwaters but contains several growing urban/suburban centres in the lower valley (including Wycombe).

The station

British Standard Crump weir, 6.1m broad installed on a slight bend.

How it measures flow

Bend in channel causes a build-up of very mobile silt on the upstream right hand apron, which changes the channel cross-sectional area. Site not originally located on bend; fisheries enhancements have changed the channel. Modular throughout the flow range. All but extreme floods contained. Protected flows derived from standard Crump weir equation.

Flow regime

The flow regime (especially during low flows) is significantly influenced by artificial influences especially abstractions (particularly gw). The recent closure of the u/s High Wycombe STW has meant that sewage effluent has been redirected to Marlow STW. A groundwater compensation flow has been put in place for the river. However there is no daily variation damping at low flows. Flashy response from growing urban fraction but regime remains baseflow dominated.

The flow record

Mill operation evident in early record. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in August 2024 (WINFAP Files v13).

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
Crump weir
Operating since
1964
Station datum
26.8 mAOD
Flow record
1964–2024 · 60 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1964
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Wye at Bourne End flooding today?

The current level is 0.16m, which is within the typical range of 0.11 to 0.38m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Bourne End?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. The chart above shows the last 12 hours of measurements by default (up to 7 days), updated roughly every 15 minutes.

What is a normal level for the River Wye at Bourne End?

The typical range at this station is 0.11m to 0.38m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.38m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.

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.

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