Portwood water level

Name: Portwood water level (Environment Agency)
Creator: Environment Agency
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

River gauge, River Tame, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom

Directions

Normal for mid-October

Water level

0.14m Up 0.02 m over the last 24 hours

Measured 20 Oct 2026, 06:15 BST (25 min ago)

History

7 days 1 year Years compared

20252026

Water level Normal range (10–90 %) Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range

What this means

The gauge at Portwood reads 0.14 m, a normal level for mid-October.

That puts it 0.02 m below the median of 0.16 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.22 m (−0.08 m).

The water is rising: up 0.02 m over the past 24 hours. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.11 m and 0.19 m.

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: 0.16 m0.02 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date: 0.11 m – 0.27 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range: 0.10 m – 1.92 m
Same day last year: 0.22 m−0.08 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 0.11 m – 0.19 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 0.08 m – 0.84 m
Highest on record: 2.26 mJanuary 1, 2025
Lowest on record: 0.07 mAugust 22, 1976

On the river at Portwood

A level in the typical range is usually good news for both anglers and canoeists, but conditions can change quickly after rain in the hills.

Flood warnings for the area come from the Environment Agency.

About the River Tame

The River Tame is a river in the West Midlands of England, and one of the principal tributaries of the River Trent. The Tame is about 95 km (59 mi) long from the source at Oldbury to its confluence with the Trent near Alrewas, but the main river length of the entire catchment, i.e., the Tame and its main tributaries, is about 285 km (177 mi).

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 8.4 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

18 Sun 12° 7° 0.1 mm Wind 14 km/h

19 Mon 14° 7° 1.7 mm, 83% Wind 22 km/h

20 Tue 12° 10° 8.8 mm, 72% Wind 9 km/h

21 Wed 10° 7° 1.4 mm, 62% Wind 18 km/h

22 Thu 12° 6° 3.9 mm, 72% Wind 18 km/h

23 Fri 8° 5° – Wind 20 km/h

24 Sat 10° 4° 2.3 mm, 89% Wind 28 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:45 AM Sunset 06:03 PM Daylight 10 hr, 18 min First quarter 65%

Map

Other gauges on the River Tame

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Broomstairs BridgeRiver gauge, River Tame	0.25 m	Normal	+0.01 m	4.6 km
Waggon RoadRiver gauge, River Tame	0.52 m	Normal	±0	12 km
UppermillRiver gauge, River Tame	0.08 m	Normal	±0	16 km
DelphRiver gauge, River Tame	0.14 m	Normal	±0	18 km
ElfordRiver gauge, River Tame	1.44 m	No reference yet	+0.19 m	86 km
HopwasRiver gauge, River Tame	0.68 m	Normal	+0.16 m	91 km
TamworthRiver gauge, River Tame	0.93 m	Normal	+0.06 m	93 km
BescotRiver gauge, River Tame	0.90 m	Normal	−0.51 m	97 km
Park HillRiver gauge, River Tame	0.30 m	Normal	−0.25 m	97 km
Sandwell WoodendRiver gauge, River Tame	0.58 m	Normal	−0.43 m	100 km
SheepwashRiver gauge, River Tame	0.45 m	Normal	−0.45 m	100 km
Perry ParkRiver gauge, River Tame	0.44 m	Normal	−0.30 m	101 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
BrinkswayRiver gauge, River Mersey	0.56 m	Normal	+0.03 m	2.8 km
CompstallRiver gauge, River Etherow	0.13 m	Low	+0.02 m	5.6 km
Marple BridgeRiver gauge, River Goyt	0.24 m	Normal	−0.01 m	6.0 km
Didsbury RiverRiver gauge, River Mersey	2.76 m	Very low	+0.07 m	6.7 km
NorthendenRiver gauge, River Mersey	0.31 m	Low	+0.03 m	7.6 km
Gurney StreetRiver gauge, River Medlock	0.27 m	Normal	+0.05 m	7.9 km
London RoadRiver gauge, River Medlock	0.08 m	Low	−0.02 m	8.1 km
PoyntonRiver gauge, Poynton Brook	0.22 m	High	±0	9.2 km

Questions and answers

How does the River Tame at Portwood compare with last year?

It is 0.08 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.22 m.

What is a normal level for the River Tame at Portwood in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.16 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.11 m and 0.27 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 0.14 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Portwood today?

On 20 Oct 2026, 06:15 BST, the water level was 0.14 m. Up 0.02 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Portwood rising or falling?

Up 0.02 m over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Portwood normal?

Normal for mid-October. Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Portwood?

The highest level on record is 2.26 m on January 1, 2025. The lowest is 0.07 m on August 22, 1976.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads

Operator: Environment Agency
Station code: ea:692423 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 53.42353, -2.14140 (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	0.14 m	2026-10-20 05:15	Provisional

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<iframe src="https://nivelmap.com/embed/473?lang=en" width="360" height="230" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy" title="Portwood water level"></iframe>

How to cite

Environment Agency: Portwood (ea:692423). Accessed October 20, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/greater-manchester/portwood

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