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 • 155 views
Set water level alerts
Get notified about Woolston — tick as many as you like, they all share the notify settings below.
Alert me when (tick one or more)
Height for "Above a height"
Drag the line on the chart, or type a value:mAOD
Quick pick:
You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.
You'll be notified when a new storm-overflow (sewage) discharge starts within ~3 km of this gauge, based on the water companies' near-real-time feeds.
Notify by (tick one or more)
Your browser will ask permission, then you'll get a notification even when FloodRadar isn't open.
On iPhone: tap Share → Add to Home Screen first, then open it from there and set the alert. Show me how
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
0.154 mAOD
▼ Falling (-117cm/hr)
24h Max
1.588 mAOD
24h Min
-1.346 mAOD
Typical Range
-2.55 - 2.80
mAOD
Highest Recorded
2.84 mAOD
EA official record
A 8.92 reading (12 Jan 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
EA forecast (official)
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.
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.
6 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 8.7 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 6 report not discharging.
Southern Water · into Itchen Estuary · 2.8 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
3 spills · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
23 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.
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 →
This gauge rarely reaches its typical high of 2.80 m:
1 day since 2017.
This year so far: 0 days.
20260 days so far
20250 days
20241 day patchy data
20230 days
20220 days
20210 days
20200 days
20190 days
20180 days
20170 days
Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out, so a year marked patchy may have run high more often than shown.
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2011 for the 8 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.5 km away).
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 Woolston flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 8 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
The current level is 0.15m, which is within the typical range of -2.55 to 2.80m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Woolston?
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. Only about 0.0mm 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 Tide at Woolston?
The typical range at this station is -2.55m to 2.80m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.80m 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.
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:
FloodRadar
Log inCreate free account