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▲▼ Water Level just past its peak

Cowes

Tide 🌊 Tidal
Isle of Wight catchment • East Cowes • Isle of Wight • ID: E15040 • 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.
(36m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 156 views

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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.

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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
1.728 mAOD
▲▼ Crested · peaked 1.80
24h Max
1.800 mAOD
24h Min
-1.634 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
2.73 mAOD
EA official record
A 9.84 reading (18 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

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 · +221 cm over 6h
10 Oct 00:30 ▼ -2 cm 1.728 mAOD
10 Oct 00:15 ▬ steady 1.749 mAOD
10 Oct 00:00 ▼ -2 cm 1.749 mAOD
09 Oct 23:45 ▼ -3 cm 1.768 mAOD
09 Oct 23:30 ▲ +6 cm 1.800 mAOD
09 Oct 22:30 ▲▲ +12 cm 1.736 mAOD
09 Oct 22:15 ▲▲ +19 cm 1.616 mAOD
09 Oct 22:00 ▲▲ +24 cm 1.422 mAOD
09 Oct 21:45 ▲▲ +24 cm 1.179 mAOD
09 Oct 21:30 ▲▲ +24 cm 0.938 mAOD
09 Oct 21:15 ▲▲ +26 cm 0.700 mAOD
09 Oct 21:00 ▲▲ +21 cm 0.444 mAOD
09 Oct 20:45 ▲▲ +20 cm 0.238 mAOD
09 Oct 20:30 ▲▲ +16 cm 0.041 mAOD
09 Oct 20:15 ▲▲ +12 cm -0.119 mAOD
09 Oct 20:00 ▲▲ +7 cm -0.235 mAOD
09 Oct 19:45 ▲▲ +7 cm -0.307 mAOD
09 Oct 19:30 ▲▲ +6 cm -0.374 mAOD
09 Oct 19:15 ▲ +5 cm -0.433 mAOD
09 Oct 19:00 -0.481 mAOD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Cowes
  • Watercourse: Tide
  • Nearest Town: East Cowes
  • County: Isle of Wight
  • Coordinates: 50°45'48"N 1°17'48"W (50.763267, -1.296672)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1998
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: Tidal / coastal station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E15040
  • RLOI id: 1020 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E15040-level-tidal_level-i-15_min-mAOD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mAOD
  • Typical rise rate: 86 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: 🌊 Yes — levels follow the tide
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Isle of Wight
  • EA Cross-check: 1.75 mAOD (EA at 10 Oct 00:15)

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

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

Nearby

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2012 for the 13 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 2.5 km away).

68flood warnings 148flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 18 Feb 2026 — Carisbrooke and Hunny Hill on the Lukely Brook

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 5 11
2025 4 8
2024 11 18
2023 11 23
2022 5 9
2021 1 9
2020 5 12
2019 3 10
2018 1 3
2017 0 2
2016 1 8
2015 1 7
2014 14 15
2013 6 7
2012 0 6

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 East Cowes flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 13 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

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Frequently asked questions

Is the Tide at Cowes flooding today?

The latest recorded level is 1.73m. 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 Cowes?

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.

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