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⤴Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
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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.
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Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on
EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms
Current Level
0.370 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.370 mASD
24h Min
0.357 mASD
Typical Range
0.13 - 1.26
mASD
Highest Recorded
2.33 mASD
EA official record
2.33 in our data (since Oct 1979)
Current level is 16% of this
ⓘ
Flood alert
The Essex coast from Clacton to and including, St Peters Flat and the Colne and Blackwater estuaries
High tides overnight may lead to flooding.
Flooding is possible on consecutive tides from 11pm on Friday 9th October through to 1am 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 2.90 mAODN at 12am, on Saturday 10th October, which is 0.48m above tide tables, Wind Force 6, 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 9:00AM on Saturday 10 October or as the situation changes.
The Essex coast from St Peters Flat to and including Shoeburyness and the Crouch and Roach estuaries
High tides overnight may lead to flooding.
Flooding is possible from 11pm on Friday 9th October through to 1am on Saturday 10th October.
Tide levels will be high at Battlesbridge and Hullbridge riversides. Creeksea Ferry Road onto Wallasea Island may be flooded. The detailed forecast is for a peak level at Clacton of 2.90 mAODN at 12am on Saturday 10th October, which is 0.48m above tide tables, Wind Force 6, 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 9:00AM on Saturday 10 October or as the situation changes.
Experimental model fusing soil moisture, river flow, groundwater and catchment
character. The shaded band is its 10–90% range, widened so that about 80% of recent outcomes fall inside it.
Under evaluation — not yet promoted, so treat as a second opinion.
River Flow
90 days
Daily mean discharge (m³/s) with the daily min–max band, from the EA Hydrology API. Flow is the volume of water passing the gauge — often a more direct flood signal than level.
Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 8 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional)via EA Hydrology
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.
12 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 3.3 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 11 report not discharging, and for 1 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
Anglian Water · into River Brain Nt · 5.9 km away in a straight line · not connected to this gauge on the river map
22 spills · 229 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
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 →
In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 1.26 m
on about 7 days.
This year so far: 19 days.
202619 days, 14 of them high · 14 highso far
20252 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
202415 days, 13 of them high · 13 high
202312 days, 7 of them high · 7 highpatchy data
20220 days patchy data
202110 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
20207 days, 6 of them high · 6 high
20195 days, 3 of them high · 3 highpatchy data
20180 days patchy data
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.
The darker part is days above 1.34 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2008 for the 5 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.7 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 Rivenhall End flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 5 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 Fairly flashyResponds fairly quickly to rain, with moderate baseflow between events.
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
0.48
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
609 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
2.6%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
12.75 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
46.10 m³/s
22 Oct 2001 · 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.
Land Cover (2023)
Woodland 6%Grassland 24%Arable 63%Urban 7%
Arable 80% → 63% since 1990
Flow affected by: reservoir influence, public water supply, groundwater abstraction, industrial / agricultural abstraction.
Photos
Gauging-station photographs from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).
Station gauging a groundwater-influenced rural catchment with major artificial influences.
More detail
The catchment
London Clay with Chalk in the headwaters, overlain with Boulder Clay and some sands and gravels. Rural, predominantly arable land.
The station
Double throated trapezoidal flume with throat tappings and a high flow rated spillway.
How it measures flow
Spilling onto spillway stats at 1.80m, drowning starts at 1.2m (13.0 cumecs). Degree of drowning variable. Rating accounts for non-modular flow. One peak flow rating applied across period of record.
Flow regime
Gw-influenced regime. Intermittently affected, since 1971, by Ely/Ouse Transfer Scheme pumping, significantly affected in the late 1980s and in the 1990s. Abstractions from both Chalk and gravel aquifers for PWS.
The flow record
No POT data are presented for this station as they have no non-modular flow correction applied. AMAX data have been corrected, but in some cases can be below the daily flow as these are not corrected. Irregular record from 01/10/1962. POT independence criteria applied to early (chart) record appears to require separation of 7 days. Exceptionally high flow recorded in Oct 2001, magnitude suspect as likely to have been affected by drowning. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2023 (WINFAP Files v12).
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Blackwater at Appleford Bridge flooding today?
The current level is 0.37m, which is within the typical range of 0.13 to 1.26m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Appleford Bridge?
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 River Blackwater at Appleford Bridge?
The typical range at this station is 0.13m to 1.26m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.26m 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:
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15 Mar 2018 Gauging station structure (looking upstream)
15 Mar 2018 Gauging station structure (looking downstream)
15 Mar 2018 Gauging station structure (looking upstream)
15 Mar 2018 Downstream section
15 Mar 2018 Upstream section
9 Oct 2014 Looking downstream of weir
1 May 2012 Flooding of weir looking upstream, stage 1.531
21 Jul 1994 Structure viewed from downstream
