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0.10

Abingdon

Ock ⚙ Structure
Vale of White Horse catchment • Abingdon • Oxfordshire • ID: 1790TH • Level
(34m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 151 views

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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
0.097 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.106 mASD
24h Min
0.097 mASD
Typical Range
0.08 - 0.84
mASD
Highest Recorded
1.81 mASD
EA official record
A 2.85 reading (13 Jun 2023) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 5% of this
🚽 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

Steady over 5h
10 Oct 09:45 ▬ steady 0.097 mASD
10 Oct 09:30 ▬ steady 0.097 mASD
10 Oct 09:15 ▬ steady 0.097 mASD
10 Oct 09:00 ▬ steady 0.097 mASD
10 Oct 08:45 ▬ steady 0.097 mASD
10 Oct 08:30 ▬ steady 0.097 mASD
10 Oct 08:00 ▬ steady 0.097 mASD
10 Oct 07:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.097 mASD
10 Oct 07:30 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 07:15 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 07:00 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 06:45 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 06:30 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 06:15 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 06:00 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 05:45 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 05:30 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 05:15 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 05:00 ▬ steady 0.098 mASD
10 Oct 04:45 0.098 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Abingdon
  • Watercourse: River Ock
  • Nearest Town: Abingdon
  • County: Oxfordshire
  • Nearest reservoir: Farmoor (10.0 km) · 76.0% full (as of 31 Aug 2026)
  • Coordinates: 51°39'60"N 1°18'19"W (51.666656, -1.305189)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1978
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 1790TH
  • RLOI id: 7081 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 1790TH-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 0 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: Vale of White Horse
  • Typical Range: 0.079 – 0.836 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 234 km² upstream of this gauge
  • 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
  • EA Cross-check: 0.10 mASD (EA at 10 Oct 09:45)
  • 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

Nearby

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.

4 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 10.6 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 4 report not discharging.

💧
Thames Water · into Marcham Brook · 10.6 km upstream along the river
17 spills · 159 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Letcombe Brook · 11.3 km upstream along the river
30 spills · 170 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into The River Ock · 18.7 km upstream along the river
3 spills · 6 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Uffington Brook · 26.3 km upstream along the river
48 spills · 654 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.

💧
Thames Water · into Odhay Hill Ditch/River Thames · 2.0 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
13 spills · 112 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into N/A · 4.4 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
1 spill · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Clifton Hampden Ditch · 5.9 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
38 spills · 378 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 0.84 m on about 4 days. This year so far: 2 days.

2026 2 days so far
2025 1 day
2024 20 days
2023 6 days
2022 0 days
2021 3 days
2020 3 days
2019 3 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 2008 for the 8 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.2 km away).

14flood warnings 180flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 25 Nov 2024 — River Ock at Abingdon and Caldecott

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 46
2025 0 6
2024 10 16
2023 0 20
2022 0 1
2021 0 5
2020 1 13
2019 0 4
2018 0 7
2017 0 5
2016 0 9
2015 1 3
2014 2 8
2013 0 11
2012 0 16
2011 0 1
2010 0 3
2009 0 5
2008 0 1

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 Abingdon flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 8 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Catchment Character

🌊 Mixed response A 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
0.62
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
644 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +0% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.8%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
10.50 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
25.89 m³/s
22 Jul 2007 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 1.615.310.9290.3415% (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 5%Grassland 38%Arable 50%Urban 7%
Grassland 41% → 38% since 1990

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, effluent returns.

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

It is the main flow measuring structure on the River Ock, just upstream of another peak flow station within Abingdon (39018) that it superseded.

More detail

The catchment

Flat, rural valley in Vale of The White Horse. Largely flat, rural valley in Vale of The White Horse. Mixed geology that is largely pervious. Chalk downland forms southern watershed while the remainder mostly Tertiary clays. Geology includes Corallian Beds, Greensand, Chalk, Kimmeridge Clay, Gault & Alluvium. Contributing area exceeds topographical catchment.

The station

Crump weir, 7.79m wide, with auxiliary d/s tapping. Superseded original compound structure in 1979 (with associated gaps in the record). Due for fish passage baffles FY 2019-20.

How it measures flow

Substantial channel improvements but drowning became more frequent again. Standard Crump weir calculation using tail levels. Part of the weir is subject to non-modular flow conditions (0.5m), as the channel splits into a high and low level channel on the d/s side of the weir. Inaccurate at low flows, but otherwise reasonably accurate. Slight overestimation could result in anomalies at higher flows. A flood forecasting rating is available which estimates total flows including those on the flood plain. Sandford Brook flows into the side channel just downstream of the structure (piped from left bank under the channel).

Flow regime

Runoff influenced by a significant number gw abstraction/recharge. Runoff augmented by sewage effluent (derived from outside catchment).

The flow record

Although hydrometrically much improved it is still imprecise at low flows. Substantial channel improvements were completed but the weir drowns during floods and overspill can occur into Sandford Brook. This was more common pre-1979. There are doubts about the homogeneity of peak flows. No flow adjustment made. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2020 (WINFAP Files v9) and in August 2024 (WINFAP Files v13).

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
Gauging structure
Operating since
1979
Station datum
51.4 mAOD
Flow record
1962–2024 · 62 yrs · 99% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1979
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Ock at Abingdon flooding today?

The current level is 0.10m, which is within the typical range of 0.08 to 0.84m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Abingdon?

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 Ock at Abingdon?

The typical range at this station is 0.08m to 0.84m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.84m 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.

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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 →