Blandford water level
River gauge, River Stour, Dorset, United Kingdom
Right now
Lower than ever recorded here
Water level
History
20252026
What this means
The River Stour at Blandford is running at a record low at 0.06 m.
No reading on record has been lower: the old record low was 0.29 m, from October 1, 2003. That puts it 0.06 m below the median of 0.12 m for mid-October, based on 16 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.06 m as well.
It has dropped 0.01 m over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. In the last month it has stayed between 0.03 m and 0.08 m.
Autumn rain usually starts to lift rivers again after the summer low.
Compared with the highest and lowest levels the agency has recorded at this gauge. How to read levels
Key numbers
- Median for this date
- 0.12 m0.06 m below the median for this date
- Normal for this date
- 0.06 m – 0.35 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (16 years of records)
- Normal range
- 0.39 m – 1.10 m
- Same day last year
- 0.06 m0.00 m
- Lowest and highest in 30 days
- 0.03 m – 0.08 m
- Lowest and highest in 12 months
- 0.04 m – 1.63 m
- Highest on record
- 2.78 mDecember 24, 2013
- Lowest on record
- 0.29 mOctober 1, 2003
- Lowest on record
- 0.23 m below the lowest level on record
Fishing and paddling
At low levels, many rivers become a walk-and-paddle trip. Fish hold in deeper pools and spook easily.
Flood alerts and warnings come from the Environment Agency.
About the River Stour
The River Stour is a river in Kent, England that flows into the North Sea at Pegwell Bay. Above Plucks Gutter, where the Little Stour joins it, the river is normally known as the Great Stour. The upper section of the river, above its confluence with the East Stour at Ashford is sometimes known as the Upper Great Stour or West Stour. In the tidal lower reaches, the artificial Stonar Cut short cuts a large loop in the natural river.
Text and image from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA.
Weather at the gauge
Rain in the last 3 days: 3.2 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.
Forecast: Open-Meteo
Map
Other gauges on the River Stour
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HammoonRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.14 m | Low | ±0 | 11 km |
| WimborneRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.39 m | Low | ±0 | 16 km |
| Gillingham Le Neubourg WayRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.37 m | Normal | +0.02 m | 22 km |
| ThroopRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.31 m | Low | −0.01 m | 25 km |
| Iford BridgeRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.34 m | Normal | +0.44 m | 28 km |
| ShipstonRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.26 m | Normal | −0.01 m | 140 km |
| WimpstoneRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.66 m | Low | −0.05 m | 147 km |
Nearby gauges
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stourpaine HavelinsRiver gauge, River Iwerne | 0.05 m | Lowest on record | ±0 | 4.4 km |
| StourpaineRiver gauge, River Iwerne | 0.04 m | Very low | −0.01 m | 4.6 km |
| Iwerne Hill FarmGroundwater well | 3.51 m | Normal | −0.02 m | 8.5 km |
| Delcombe WoodGroundwater well | 124.54 m | Very low | −0.01 m | 8.6 km |
| Sturminster Marshall Maggs BridgeRiver gauge, River Winterbourne | 0.02 m | Normal | ±0 | 8.6 km |
| Badbury RingsGroundwater well | 21.64 m | Lowest on record | ±0 | 9.1 km |
| AshmoreGroundwater well | 132.32 m | Normal | −0.01 m | 12 km |
| Dewlish Woodsdown CrossRiver gauge, Piddle Brook | 0.05 m | Normal | ±0 | 12 km |
Questions and answers
How does the River Stour at Blandford compare with last year?
It is about the same as on this day last year, when the reading was 0.06 m.
Is the river level the same as the depth of the water?
No. The reading is measured from a fixed zero mark at the gauge, so 0.06 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.
What is the water level of Blandford today?
On 18 Oct 2026, 07:00 BST, the water level was 0.06 m. Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours.
Is Blandford rising or falling?
Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours. Steady over the last 7 days.
Is the level of Blandford normal?
Lower than ever recorded here. Compared with the highest and lowest levels the agency has recorded at this gauge.
What is the highest water level ever recorded at Blandford?
The highest level on record is 2.78 m on December 24, 2013. The lowest is 0.29 m on October 1, 2003.
How often is this data updated?
The Environment Agency publishes a new reading every 15 minutes. This page refreshes within minutes of each update.
For specialists
Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
- Operator
- Environment Agency
- Station code
ea:43210(Agency page)- Coordinates
50.85307, -2.16709(WGS84)- Vertical datum
- station datum
- Update interval
- every 15 minutes
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Environment Agency data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
Published series
| Parameter | Last value | Time (UTC) | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water level | 0.06 m | 2026-10-18 06:00 | Provisional |
Download
Embed this gauge
Add a live card for this gauge to your website. It updates on its own and links back here.
How to cite
Environment Agency: Blandford (ea:43210). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/dorset/blandford
How we check values
Each reading is stored as published. We hold back values that jump faster than physically plausible and show the measurement time with every value.
Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer