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🌊 Tide going out · low water in ~3h

Harwich

Tide 🌊 Tidal
England - South Coast catchment • Harwich • Essex • ID: E71439 • Level
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) • 1 reading/hr • 128 views

Set water level alerts

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

You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 mAOD/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.

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 data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
0.604 mAOD
▼ Falling (-43cm/hr)
24h Max
1.247 mAOD
24h Min
-0.804 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
9.46 mAOD
21 Jan 2025
Since Jul 2017
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

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.

Recent Readings

Rising · +111 cm over 7h
23 Aug 22:15 ▼▼ -54 cm 0.604 mAOD
23 Aug 21:00 ▼▼ -7 cm 1.147 mAOD
23 Aug 20:45 ▼ -3 cm 1.213 mAOD
23 Aug 20:15 ▲ +3 cm 1.247 mAOD
23 Aug 20:00 ▲ +5 cm 1.222 mAOD
23 Aug 19:45 ▲▲ +7 cm 1.174 mAOD
23 Aug 19:30 ▲▲ +9 cm 1.101 mAOD
23 Aug 19:15 ▲▲ +9 cm 1.013 mAOD
23 Aug 19:00 ▲▲ +10 cm 0.923 mAOD
23 Aug 18:45 ▲▲ +10 cm 0.821 mAOD
23 Aug 18:30 ▲▲ +11 cm 0.717 mAOD
23 Aug 18:15 ▲▲ +11 cm 0.610 mAOD
23 Aug 18:00 ▲▲ +10 cm 0.498 mAOD
23 Aug 17:45 ▲▲ +11 cm 0.395 mAOD
23 Aug 17:30 ▲▲ +24 cm 0.288 mAOD
23 Aug 17:00 ▲▲ +12 cm 0.051 mAOD
23 Aug 16:45 ▲▲ +12 cm -0.067 mAOD
23 Aug 16:30 ▲▲ +22 cm -0.183 mAOD
23 Aug 16:00 ▲▲ +10 cm -0.405 mAOD
23 Aug 15:45 -0.504 mAOD

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2009 for the 10 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.2 km away).

6severe warnings 73flood warnings 238flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 1 Jan 2026Bawdsey Quay and Felixstowe Ferry

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 1 7
2025 0 0 20
2024 0 6 33
2023 0 5 21
2022 0 7 22
2021 0 2 16
2020 0 6 24
2019 0 6 14
2018 0 0 9
2017 2 19 22
2016 0 0 9
2015 0 2 13
2014 0 1 10
2013 4 14 8
2012 0 0 2
2011 0 1 3
2010 0 1 2
2009 0 2 3

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 Harwich flood history.

Nearby Stations

Loading nearby stations...

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Harwich
  • Watercourse: Tide
  • Nearest Town: Harwich
  • County: Essex
  • Nearest reservoir: Alton (12.7 km) · 68.0% full (as of 17 Aug 2026)
  • Coordinates: 51°56'53"N 1°17'32"E (51.947978, 1.292108)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 13 Feb 2012
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: Tidal / coastal station
  • Station Reference: E71439
  • EA Gauge ID: E71439-level-tidal_level-Mean-15_min-mAOD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mAOD
  • Typical rise rate: 71 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~37 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: 🌊 Yes — levels follow the tide
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: England - South Coast
  • EA Cross-check: 0.60 mAOD (EA at 23 Aug 22:15)

Geographic coordinates may reflect the access point for the gauge, and not the precise location in the watercourse that it is taking readings from.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Tide at Harwich flooding today?

The latest recorded level is 0.60m. 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 Harwich?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, 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 5.0mm 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.

How often is this river level data updated?

Readings are taken by the Environment Agency gauge roughly every 15 minutes and FloodRadar refreshes its data continuously, so the level shown is normally less than an hour old.

Embed this gauge on your website

Free live river-level widget — ideal for parish councils, angling clubs and local sites. Updates automatically.

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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, floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →