Lexden water level
River gauge, River Colne, Essex, United Kingdom
Right now
Very low for mid-October
Water level
History
20252026
What this means
The River Colne at Lexden is running far below normal at 0.20 m.
The median for mid-October is 0.26 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.06 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.20 m, a difference of −0.01 m. The lowest reading on record is 0.10 m (August 21, 1998).
It has barely moved over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly.
Autumn rain usually starts to lift rivers again after the summer low.
Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels
Key numbers
- Median for this date
- 0.26 m0.06 m below the median for this date
- Normal for this date
- 0.20 m – 0.37 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
- Normal range
- 0.10 m – 1.54 m
- Same day last year
- 0.20 m−0.01 m
- Lowest and highest in 30 days
- 0.20 m – 0.20 m
- Lowest and highest in 12 months
- 0.11 m – 0.60 m
- Highest on record
- 2.38 mOctober 22, 2001
- Lowest on record
- 0.10 mAugust 21, 1998
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 Colne
The Colne is a river and a tributary of the River Thames in England. Just over half its course is in south Hertfordshire. Downstream, it forms the boundary between Buckinghamshire and the London Borough of Hillingdon. The confluence with the River Thames is on the Staines reach at Staines-upon-Thames.
Text and image from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA.
Weather at the gauge
Rain in the last 3 days: 2.2 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 Colne
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earls ColneRiver gauge, River Colne | 0.11 m | Very low | −0.01 m | 11 km |
| Poole StreetRiver gauge, River Colne | 0.07 m | Normal | ±0 | 22 km |
| Great YeldhamRiver gauge, River Colne | 0.11 m | Normal | −0.01 m | 26 km |
| London ColneyRiver gauge, River Colne | 1.09 m | Normal | ±0 | 81 km |
| WatfordRiver gauge, River Colne | 0.18 m | Normal | ±0 | 88 km |
| Moor LaneRiver gauge, River Colne | 7.46 m | Normal | +0.01 m | 94 km |
| Denham ColneRiver gauge, River Colne | 0.14 m | Normal | ±0 | 99 km |
| WillowbankRiver gauge, River Colne | 0.82 m | Very low | −0.02 m | 99 km |
| Iver, Clisbys BridgeRiver gauge, River Colne | 0.32 m | Normal | −0.02 m | 101 km |
| West DraytonRiver gauge, River Colne | 0.40 m | Very low | ±0 | 102 km |
| Thorney Mill Road, West Drayton (Temporary)River gauge, River Colne | −0.01 m | Lowest on record | −0.01 m | 102 km |
| Farlows BridgeRiver gauge, River Colne | 0.34 m | Low | ±0 | 102 km |
Nearby gauges
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bures BridgeRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.25 m | Normal | +0.02 m | 9.7 km |
| LanghamRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.25 m | Very low | ±0 | 10 km |
| LamarshRiver gauge, River Stour | 0.37 m | Very low | +0.02 m | 12 km |
| PolsteadRiver gauge, River Box | 0.12 m | Low | +0.01 m | 12 km |
| BoxfordRiver gauge, River Box | 1.20 m | Normal | ±0 | 14 km |
| Appleford BridgeRiver gauge, River Blackwater | 0.37 m | Normal | ±0 | 16 km |
| StistedRiver gauge, River Blackwater | 0.32 m | Very high | +0.03 m | 17 km |
| HadleighRiver gauge, River Brett | 0.31 m | Normal | ±0 | 18 km |
Questions and answers
Is the River Colne at Lexden higher than last year?
No, it is 0.01 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.20 m.
What is a normal level for the River Colne at Lexden in mid-October?
The median for mid-October is 0.26 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.20 m and 0.37 m, based on 21 years of records.
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 0.20 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.
What is the water level of Lexden today?
On 18 Oct 2026, 19:00 BST, the water level was 0.20 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.
Is Lexden rising or falling?
Steady over the last 24 hours.
Is the level of Lexden normal?
Very low for mid-October. Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year.
What is the highest water level ever recorded at Lexden?
The highest level on record is 2.38 m on October 22, 2001. The lowest is 0.10 m on August 21, 1998.
For specialists
Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
- Operator
- Environment Agency
- Station code
ea:E22761(Agency page)- Coordinates
51.89895, 0.85103(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 | 0.20 m | 2026-10-18 18:00 | 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: Lexden (ea:E22761). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/essex/lexden
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