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0.10

Missenden

Misbourne
Colne (Lower) catchment • Little Missenden • Buckinghamshire • ID: 2873TH • Level
(32m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 114 views

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Current Level
0.100 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.103 mASD
24h Min
0.100 mASD
Typical Range
0.04 - 0.40
mASD
Highest Recorded
0.46 mASD
EA official record
0.46 in our data (since Oct 1993)
Current level is 22% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.3 cm over 5h
09 Oct 19:15 ▬ steady 0.100 mASD
09 Oct 19:00 ▬ steady 0.100 mASD
09 Oct 18:45 ▬ steady 0.100 mASD
09 Oct 18:30 ▬ steady 0.100 mASD
09 Oct 18:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.100 mASD
09 Oct 18:00 ▬ steady 0.101 mASD
09 Oct 17:45 ▬ steady 0.102 mASD
09 Oct 17:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.101 mASD
09 Oct 17:15 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
09 Oct 17:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.103 mASD
09 Oct 16:45 ▬ steady 0.102 mASD
09 Oct 16:30 ▬ steady 0.101 mASD
09 Oct 16:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.102 mASD
09 Oct 16:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.103 mASD
09 Oct 15:45 ▬ steady 0.102 mASD
09 Oct 15:30 ▬ steady 0.102 mASD
09 Oct 15:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.102 mASD
09 Oct 15:00 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
09 Oct 14:45 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
09 Oct 14:30 0.103 mASD

Station Details

Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 2873TH
  • RLOI id: 7194 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 2873TH-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: Colne (Lower)
  • Typical Range: 0.044 – 0.400 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 47 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 7 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: 0.10 mASD (EA at 9 Oct 19:15)
  • 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 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

None of the storm overflows FloodRadar holds is traced upstream of this gauge on the mapped river network. That is not the same as none: the map leaves out many small streams and culverts, so an overflow it cannot place may still drain here, and not every company publishes every overflow.

2 other overflows within 6 km are downstream of this gauge or on another branch of the river network, so they are 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

This gauge rarely reaches its typical high of 0.40 m: 1 day since 2017. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 0 days
2024 1 day
2023 0 days
2022 0 days
2021 0 days
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 7 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 2.9 km away).

0flood warnings 4flood alerts

Most recent flood alert: 2 Mar 2024 — River Chess in the Chilterns and Three Rivers Districts

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2024 0 2
2021 0 1
2014 0 1

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 Little Missenden flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 7 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
0.72
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
814 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
3.3%
partly urbanised
Highest Daily Mean Flow
0.862 m³/s
12 Feb 2001 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.1500.3870.1150.0205% (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 21%Grassland 38%Arable 34%Urban 8%

Flow affected by: groundwater 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

Gauging station located in the headwaters of the River Misbourne.

More detail

The catchment

A mostly rural catchment on the dip-slope of the Chilterns (Chalk); some development in the lower catchment.

The station

Rectangular thin-plate weir with flanking Crump crests.

How it measures flow

Theoretical rating supported by gaugings (more scheduled to confirm calibration). Fish screen on the structure regularly gets blocked with blanket weed causing upstream level to increase and overtop the banks. Water bypasses the weir. The screen is regularly cleaned but when doing so it causes a spike in the level as the built up head flushes through.

Flow regime

The Misbourne is a Chalk stream; ephemeral, and influent in some reaches. Heavy (but declining) gw pumping in the headwaters has reduced base flows (the Misbourne is included in the EA Low Flow Alleviation Programme).

The flow record

Very rare, and minor, bypassing during extreme flood conditions (e.g. Feb. 2001). Instrumentation difficulties over the 12/2006 - 5/2007 period, data under review.

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
Gauging structure
Operating since
1993
Station datum
101.0 mAOD
Flow record
1993–2024 · 31 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Misbourne at Missenden flooding today?

The current level is 0.10m, which is within the typical range of 0.04 to 0.40m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Missenden?

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 Misbourne at Missenden?

The typical range at this station is 0.04m to 0.40m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.40m 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 →