The Essex coast from Clacton to and including, St Peters Flat and the Colne and Blackwater estuaries
High tides today may lead to flooding.
Flooding is possible from 11:15am to 1:15pm on Saturday 10th October.
Clacton Promenade, Lee-over-Sands and Brightlingsea sea front may see some wave overtopping and spray. The Strood at Mersea Island, Coast Road and car parks on the front at West Mersea, and the Hythe and Promenade at Maldon may be flooded. The detailed forecast is for a peak level at Clacton of 2.77 mAODN at 12:15pm, on Saturday 10th October, which is 0.28m above tide tables, Wind Force 5, Westerly. Tides will remain high over the next couple of days.
We are closely monitoring the situation .
Avoid coastal roads, footpaths and carparks, which may be flooded.
This message will be updated by 5:00PM on Saturday 10 October or as the situation changes.
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.
4 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 2.2 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 4 report not discharging.
Anglian Water · into Bourne Brook River Colne Nt · 10.6 km upstream along the river
3 spills · 20 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
4 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 →
🌊 Mixed responseA balance of quick runoff and slower groundwater baseflow.
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
0.51
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
614 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +2% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
2.1%
largely rural
Highest Daily Mean Flow
27.70 m³/s
3 Jan 2003 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
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.
Station gauging a predominantly rural catchment with mixed geology and significant artificial influences, prone to siltation.
More detail
The catchment
Upper Chalk in N, London Clay in S, largely overlain with superficial deposits of Boulder Clay and Sands and gravels in the valley. Predominantly rural, dominated by arable land, but with some urban development in valley u/s of station.
The station
'Essex' profile (modified Flat V Crump) weir with crest tapping.
How it measures flow
Prone to siltation. Flows are estimated when siltation severely affects response of station. Low modular limit - approx. 0.5m. No spillway.
Flow regime
Adjustments now needed for additions and abstractions.
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Gauging structure
Operating since
1971
Station datum
25.1 mAOD
Flow record
1971–2024 · 53 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
37
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Frequently asked questions
Is EARLS COLNE FGS flooding today?
The latest recorded level is 0.18m. 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 EARLS COLNE FGS?
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.
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
