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Water Level Easing
Easing — down from 5.98 at 07:30, now 5.93
5.93

Anchor Gates

Ouse
Ouse catchment • Barcombe • East Sussex • ID: E8330 • Level
(47m ago) • 2 readings/hr • 285 views

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Current Level
5.925 mAOD
▼ Easing (-2cm/hr)
24h Max
6.100 mAOD
24h Min
5.925 mAOD
Typical Range
5.20 - 7.00
mAOD
Highest Recorded
8.18 mAOD
EA official record
8.18 in our data (since Jun 2000)
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -4 cm over 7h
09 Oct 19:00 ▼ -0.8 cm 5.925 mAOD
09 Oct 18:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 5.933 mAOD
09 Oct 18:00 ▼ -0.3 cm 5.935 mAOD
09 Oct 17:30 ▼ -0.3 cm 5.938 mAOD
09 Oct 17:00 ▬ steady 5.941 mAOD
09 Oct 16:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 5.941 mAOD
09 Oct 16:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 5.943 mAOD
09 Oct 16:15 ▬ steady 5.944 mAOD
09 Oct 16:00 ▼ -0.5 cm 5.944 mAOD
09 Oct 15:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 5.949 mAOD
09 Oct 15:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 5.951 mAOD
09 Oct 14:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 5.952 mAOD
09 Oct 14:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 5.951 mAOD
09 Oct 14:00 ▬ steady 5.953 mAOD
09 Oct 13:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 5.954 mAOD
09 Oct 13:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 5.955 mAOD
09 Oct 13:15 ▬ steady 5.957 mAOD
09 Oct 13:00 ▼ -0.2 cm 5.957 mAOD
09 Oct 12:45 ▼ -0.3 cm 5.959 mAOD
09 Oct 12:15 5.962 mAOD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Anchor Gates
  • Watercourse: River Ouse
  • Nearest Town: Barcombe
  • County: East Sussex
  • Nearest reservoir: Arlington (12.4 km) · 46.1% full (as of 4 Oct 2026)
  • Coordinates: 50°55'30"N 0°3'0"E (50.924994, 0.050081)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jun 2000
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E8330
  • RLOI id: 9246 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E8330-level-stage-i-15_min-mAOD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mAOD
  • 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: Ouse
  • Typical Range: 5.200 – 7.000 mAOD
  • EA Cross-check: 5.93 mAOD (EA at 9 Oct 19:00)

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

Nearby

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.

27 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 7.6 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 26 report not discharging, and for 1 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.

💧
Southern Water · into The Ridgewood Stream · 7.6 km upstream along the river
6 spills · 41 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Freshwater River · 8.3 km upstream along the river
3 spills · 14 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Southern Water · into Freshwater River · 8.7 km upstream along the river
16 spills · 40 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Southern Water · into Shortbridge Stream · 9.0 km upstream along the river
13 spills · 114 hours in 2025
No live feed for this overflow
💧
Southern Water · into River Ouse · 9.0 km upstream along the river
18 spills · 36 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into River Ouse · 9.0 km upstream along the river
15 spills · 64 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Freshwater River · 9.7 km upstream along the river
1 spill · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Southern Water · into Tributary Of River Ouse · 10.8 km upstream along the river
23 spills · 105 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

19 more further upstream, up to 31.8 km away along the river.

Nearby, connection not known

Within 6 km in a straight line, but the river map cannot say whether their water passes this gauge.

💧
Southern Water · into Bulldog Sewer / Glynde Reach · 4.0 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
55 spills · 556 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into North End Stream · 4.4 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
13 spills · 79 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Longford Stream · 5.6 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
1 spill · 8 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Framfield Stream · 5.8 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
No live feed for this overflow

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 7.00 m on about 10 days. This year so far: 11 days.

2026 11 days so far
2025 8 days
2024 19 days
2023 19 days
2022 16 days
2021 7 days
2020 13 days
2019 8 days
2018 0 days
2017 2 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 2012 for the 13 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.2 km away).

71flood warnings 262flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 6 Feb 2026 — Barcombe Mills on the River Ouse

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 4 12
2025 2 13
2024 8 34
2023 4 22
2022 9 24
2021 4 15
2020 18 33
2019 6 23
2018 0 3
2017 0 2
2016 0 17
2015 3 7
2014 5 28
2013 4 13
2012 4 16

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 Barcombe flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 13 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 5 more

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Ouse at Anchor Gates flooding today?

The current level is 5.93m, which is within the typical range of 5.20 to 7.00m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Anchor Gates?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling slightly. 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. Only about 8.7mm of rain has fallen nearby in the last 7 days, so the flow is being sustained mainly by groundwater. 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.

What is a normal level for the River Ouse at Anchor Gates?

The typical range at this station is 5.20m to 7.00m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 7.00m 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 →