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🌊 Tide going out · high water in ~5h

Chiswell

Dorset Coast 🌊 Tidal / coastal
West Dorset Streams catchment • Portland • Dorset • ID: 44111 • Level
(28m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 148 views

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⤴ Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.

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Current Level
0.775 mAOD
▼ Falling (-2cm/hr)
24h Max
1.417 mAOD
24h Min
0.205 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
6.44 mAOD
EA official record
A 12.32 reading (3 Nov 2023) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -61 cm over 6h
09 Oct 15:45 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.775 mAOD
09 Oct 15:30 ▼ -0.8 cm 0.778 mAOD
09 Oct 15:15 ▼ -1 cm 0.786 mAOD
09 Oct 15:00 ▼ -2 cm 0.799 mAOD
09 Oct 14:45 ▼ -2 cm 0.815 mAOD
09 Oct 14:30 ▼ -2 cm 0.834 mAOD
09 Oct 14:15 ▼ -2 cm 0.855 mAOD
09 Oct 14:00 ▼ -2 cm 0.879 mAOD
09 Oct 13:45 ▼ -5 cm 0.903 mAOD
09 Oct 13:15 ▼ -3 cm 0.956 mAOD
09 Oct 13:00 ▼ -3 cm 0.984 mAOD
09 Oct 12:45 ▼ -3 cm 1.015 mAOD
09 Oct 12:30 ▼ -7 cm 1.047 mAOD
09 Oct 12:00 ▼ -4 cm 1.112 mAOD
09 Oct 11:45 ▼ -4 cm 1.150 mAOD
09 Oct 11:30 ▼ -7 cm 1.187 mAOD
09 Oct 11:00 ▼ -3 cm 1.258 mAOD
09 Oct 10:45 ▼ -3 cm 1.293 mAOD
09 Oct 10:30 ▼ -6 cm 1.327 mAOD
09 Oct 10:00 1.385 mAOD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Chiswell
  • Watercourse: Dorset Coast
  • Nearest Town: Portland
  • County: Dorset
  • Coordinates: 50°33'45"N 2°27'3"W (50.562374, -2.450952)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1988
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: Tidal / coastal station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 44111
  • RLOI id: 3289 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 44111-level-tidal_level-i-15_min-mAOD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mAOD
  • Typical rise rate: 23 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: West Dorset Streams
  • EA Cross-check: 0.78 mAOD (EA at 9 Oct 15:45)

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

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 12 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.1 km away).

12severe warnings 177flood warnings 78flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 18 Feb 2026 — River Wey from Upwey to Weymouth

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 9 5
2025 0 1 6
2024 0 11 9
2023 0 13 5
2022 0 7 2
2021 0 4 0
2020 0 15 8
2019 0 10 5
2018 0 8 6
2017 0 5 2
2016 0 4 0
2015 0 2 1
2014 11 56 15
2013 1 11 5
2012 0 6 5
2011 0 0 4
2009 0 5 0
2008 0 5 0
2007 0 2 0
2006 0 3 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 Portland flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 12 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

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Frequently asked questions

Is the Dorset Coast at Chiswell flooding today?

The latest recorded level is 0.78m. 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 Chiswell?

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.

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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:

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