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3.89

Wheatley

Thame
Cherwell Thame and Wye catchment • Wheatley • Oxfordshire • ID: 1980TH • Level
(47m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 186 views

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Current Level
3.894 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
3.940 mASD
24h Min
3.870 mASD
Typical Range
3.60 - 5.75
mASD
Highest Recorded
6.11 mASD
EA official record
A 12.21 reading (26 Feb 2025) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 64% of this
Current Flow
Loading...
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.7 cm over 5h
08 Oct 05:00 ▬ steady 3.894 mASD
08 Oct 04:45 ▬ steady 3.894 mASD
08 Oct 04:30 ▬ steady 3.894 mASD
08 Oct 04:15 ▬ steady 3.894 mASD
08 Oct 03:45 ▬ steady 3.894 mASD
08 Oct 03:30 ▬ steady 3.895 mASD
08 Oct 03:15 ▬ steady 3.895 mASD
08 Oct 03:00 ▬ steady 3.895 mASD
08 Oct 02:45 ▬ steady 3.895 mASD
08 Oct 02:30 ▬ steady 3.896 mASD
08 Oct 02:15 ▬ steady 3.896 mASD
08 Oct 02:00 ▬ steady 3.897 mASD
08 Oct 01:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 3.897 mASD
08 Oct 01:30 ▬ steady 3.898 mASD
08 Oct 01:15 ▬ steady 3.898 mASD
08 Oct 01:00 ▬ steady 3.899 mASD
08 Oct 00:45 ▬ steady 3.900 mASD
08 Oct 00:30 ▬ steady 3.900 mASD
08 Oct 00:15 ▬ steady 3.900 mASD
08 Oct 00:00 3.901 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Wheatley
  • Watercourse: River Thame
  • Nearest Town: Wheatley
  • County: Oxfordshire
  • Nearest reservoir: Farmoor (16.9 km) · 76.0% full (as of 31 Aug 2026)
  • Coordinates: 51°44'26"N 1°6'55"W (51.740637, -1.115198)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1988
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 1980TH
  • RLOI id: 7095 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 1980TH-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 1 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~27 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Cherwell Thame and Wye
  • Typical Range: 3.597 – 5.752 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 534 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 6 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: 3.89 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 05:00)
  • 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

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.

7 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 10.6 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 7 report not discharging.

💧
Thames Water · into Danes Brook · 10.6 km upstream along the river
38 spills · 462 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Scotsgrove Brook · 22.2 km upstream along the river
37 spills · 553 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Sydenham Stream · 25.0 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Thames Water · into Scotsgrove Brook · 28.8 km upstream along the river
44 spills · 653 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Dorton Brook · 29.4 km upstream along the river
12 spills · 44 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Rowsham Brook · upstream (distance along the river not measured)
8 spills · 23 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Thames Water · into Tring Bourne · upstream (distance along the river not measured)
0 spills · 0 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 Wheatley Ditch · 470 m away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
76 spills · 1,125 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Polecat End Ditch · 3.7 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
3 spills · 4 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Gainsbridge Brook · 4.6 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
64 spills · 1,311 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Shabbington Brook · 5.5 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
23 spills · 322 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Worminghallbrook · 5.6 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
23 spills · 264 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 →

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 5.75 m on about 2 days. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 0 days
2024 13 days
2023 0 days
2022 0 days
2021 3 days
2020 4 days
2019 2 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 5 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 7.0 km away).

23flood warnings 142flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 24 Sep 2024 — River Thame from Chiselhampton to Drayton St Leonard

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 29
2025 0 6
2024 6 10
2023 1 14
2022 0 7
2021 3 6
2020 2 8
2019 0 6
2018 0 6
2017 1 5
2016 0 8
2015 0 5
2014 5 2
2013 1 4
2012 3 12
2011 0 2
2010 0 5
2009 1 6
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 Wheatley 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.

Catchment Character

🌊 Fairly flashy Responds 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
0.49
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
669 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +1% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
3.6%
partly urbanised
Highest Daily Mean Flow
68.10 m³/s
3 Jan 2003 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 3.7814.001.790.7045% (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 6%Grassland 52%Arable 32%Urban 10%
Arable 38% → 32% since 1990

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, effluent returns.

About this gauge

Located on the River Thame at Wheatley the ultrasonic gauging station superseded the upstream station at Shabbington (39038).

More detail

The catchment

The Thame drains a typical clay (principally Oxford Clay, some Greensand also) vale NW of the Chiltern escarpment. Land use is largely agricultural (considerable grassland) while the urban areas within the catchment include the town is Aylesbury.

The station

Multi-path US (cross- configuration).

How it measures flow

Full range, railway embankment ensures no bypassing. Skewed flow, weed-growth and summer temperature gradients can limit accuracy particularly at low flows (e.g. early autumn 2009).

Flow regime

Some spring flow contribution but responsive regime. Net import of water; sewage effluent is a significant component of low flows.

The flow record

Approximately 80 cumecs gauged in 01/2003. Flows in August 2017 affected by weed growth. Missing data in December 2019 due to station upgrade works.

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
Ultrasonic
Operating since
1989
Station datum
50.0 mAOD
Flow record
1989–2024 · 35 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Thame at Wheatley flooding today?

The current level is 3.89m, which is within the typical range of 3.60 to 5.75m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Wheatley?

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 Thame at Wheatley?

The typical range at this station is 3.60m to 5.75m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 5.75m 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:

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 →