← Back
0.10

Chipping Ongar

Cripsey Brook ⚙ Structure
Rodding catchment • Chipping Ongar • Essex • ID: 5427TH • Level
(1h ago) • 4 readings/hr • 172 views

Set water level alerts

Get notified about Chipping Ongar — tick as many as you like, they all share the notify settings below.

1 person already gets alerts for this gauge.

Drag the line on the chart, or type a value: mASD
Quick pick:

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
0.104 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.106 mASD
24h Min
0.099 mASD
Typical Range
0.08 - 1.30
mASD
Highest Recorded
2.42 mASD
EA official record
1.87 in our data (since Nov 2012)
Current level is 4% of this
Current Flow
Loading...
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Flood predictions aren't generated for lock / structure gauges — their levels are driven by gate operation, not by catchment rainfall, so the forecast models would have no skill here.

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.2 cm over 6h
08 Oct 01:30 ▬ steady 0.104 mASD
08 Oct 01:15 ▬ steady 0.104 mASD
08 Oct 01:00 ▬ steady 0.104 mASD
08 Oct 00:45 ▬ steady 0.104 mASD
08 Oct 00:30 ▬ steady 0.104 mASD
08 Oct 00:15 ▬ steady 0.104 mASD
08 Oct 00:00 ▬ steady 0.104 mASD
07 Oct 23:45 ▬ steady 0.104 mASD
07 Oct 23:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.104 mASD
07 Oct 22:30 ▬ steady 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 22:15 ▬ steady 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 22:00 ▬ steady 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 21:45 ▬ steady 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 21:30 ▬ steady 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 21:15 ▬ steady 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 21:00 ▬ steady 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 20:45 ▬ steady 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 20:30 ▬ steady 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 20:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.105 mASD
07 Oct 20:00 0.106 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Chipping Ongar
  • Watercourse: Cripsey Brook
  • Nearest Town: Chipping Ongar
  • County: Essex
  • Nearest reservoir: Hanningfield (19.1 km) · 54.9% full (as of 28 Dec 2025)
  • Coordinates: 51°42'33"N 0°14'23"E (51.709101, 0.239586)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1981
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 5427TH
  • RLOI id: 7378 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 5427TH-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: ⚙ Yes — lock, weir, sluice or pump
  • Catchment Area: Rodding
  • Typical Range: 0.083 – 1.300 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 62 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: 0.10 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 01:45)
  • 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.

5 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 8.8 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 4 report not discharging, and for 1 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.

💧
Thames Water · into Cripsey Brook · 8.8 km upstream along the river
8 spills · 60 hours in 2025
Monitor offline: it cannot say whether it is discharging
💧
Thames Water · into Colville Hall Brook · 11.1 km upstream along the river
3 spills · 43 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Thames Water · into North Weald Brook · 11.8 km upstream along the river
46 spills · 474 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Shonks Brook · 12.0 km upstream along the river
9 spills · 68 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into The Cripsey Brook · 13.0 km upstream along the river
31 spills · 241 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

Nearby, connection not known

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

💧
Anglian Water · into Trib Of The River Wid · 5.9 km away in a straight line · not connected to this gauge on the river map
0 spills · 0 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 1.30 m on about 2 days. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 2 days
2024 3 days
2023 3 days
2022 0 days
2021 2 days
2020 7 days
2019 2 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 2011 for the 6 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.1 km away).

0flood warnings 72flood alerts

Most recent flood alert: 16 Feb 2026 — Upper Roding

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 4
2025 0 2
2024 0 6
2023 0 7
2022 0 2
2021 0 4
2020 0 5
2019 0 4
2017 0 2
2016 0 6
2014 0 12
2013 0 5
2012 0 11
2011 0 2

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 Chipping Ongar flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 6 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Catchment Character

🌊 Flashy Rain runs off fast — levels rise and fall sharply, often within hours of heavy rain.

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
0.33
flashy — rain runs off fast
Avg Annual Rainfall
641 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
2.3%
largely rural
Highest Daily Mean Flow
33.70 m³/s
30 Oct 2000 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.3981.650.1080.0245% (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 6%Grassland 26%Arable 62%Urban 6%
Arable 73% → 62% since 1990

Flow affected by: surface-water abstraction, effluent returns, 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

Flat V weir located on Crispey Brook, a North London sub-catchment of the River Roding.

More detail

The catchment

Predominantly impermeable catchment (London Clay but with extensive areas of glacial deposits). A rural catchment where agriculture is the primary land use.

The station

Flat V weir (5.6m broad) installed in 1981. It superseded a compound thin-plate weir of limited capacity.

How it measures flow

Modular calibration - therefore over-estimation of flows during periods of drowned flow (e.g. autumn 2000 - exceptionally high flow on the 29th Oct.). The Flat-V weir drowns at mid-flows, and at higher flows the railway arch downstream becomes the control. Bypassing during high flows.

Flow regime

Responsive flow regime. Sewage effluent is an important component of low flows. Impact of abstraction also evident on the hydrograph.

The flow record

Most early flows truncated at around 2.5 cumecs. Flows missing (probably including POR minima) for much of 1976.

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
Flat-V weir
Operating since
1979
Station datum
41.7 mAOD
Flow record
1961–2024 · 63 yrs · 83% complete
Hydrometric area
37
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the Cripsey Brook at Chipping Ongar flooding today?

The current level is 0.10m, which is within the typical range of 0.08 to 1.30m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Chipping Ongar?

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 Cripsey Brook at Chipping Ongar?

The typical range at this station is 0.08m to 1.30m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.30m 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:

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 →