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Dorchester water level

River gauge, River Thame, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

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Right now

Very low for mid-October

Water level

0.24m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 2 3 Highest onrecord 3.23 m Lowest on record 0.15 m

History

History
0.51.0mOct 12Oct 14Oct 16Oct 17Oct 19Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.51.0mOct 12Oct 16Oct 19Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.51.0mSep 19Sep 27Oct 4Oct 12Oct 19Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.51.0mSep 19Oct 4Oct 19Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
12mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range12mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
12mJanMarMayJulSepNov202612mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

At 0.24 m, the River Thame at Dorchester is far below normal for mid-October.

The median for mid-October is 0.44 m, based on 16 years of readings, so the river level is 0.19 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.28 m, a difference of −0.04 m. The lowest reading on record is 0.15 m (October 4, 2011).

It has barely moved over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.21 m and 0.29 m.

Autumn rain usually starts to lift rivers again after the summer low.

Compared with 16 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date
0.44 m0.19 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.31 m – 1.29 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (16 years of records)
Normal range
0.22 m – 1.38 m
Same day last year
0.28 m−0.04 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.21 m – 0.29 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.22 m – 2.28 m
Highest on record
3.23 mJanuary 6, 2024
Lowest on record
0.15 mOctober 4, 2011

On the river at Dorchester

Low, clear water makes fish wary, and anglers often do better early and late in the day. For canoeists, shallow riffles mean scraped hulls and the odd portage.

Flood warnings for the area come from the Environment Agency.

About the River Thame

River Thames

The River Thames, or simply the Thames, known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.

Read more on Wikipedia

Text and image from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 1.2 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

18 Sun 13° 7° 1.0 mm, 61% Wind 19 km/h
19 Mon 14° 8° 5.7 mm, 85% Wind 15 km/h
20 Tue 13° 9° 11 mm, 71% Wind 9 km/h
21 Wed 14° 6° 5.4 mm, 47% Wind 24 km/h
22 Thu 14° 5° 0.1 mm, 51% Wind 16 km/h
23 Fri 10° 6° 34 mm, 77% Wind 36 km/h
24 Sat 10° 3° – Wind 25 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:36 AM Sunset 06:05 PM Daylight 10 hr, 29 min First quarter 59%

Map

Other gauges on the River Thame

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
StadhamptonRiver gauge, River Thame 0.70 m Normal +0.01 m 4.4 km
WheatleyRiver gauge, River Thame 3.95 m Normal +0.06 m 12 km
Thame BridgeRiver gauge, River Thame 1.05 m Low −0.03 m 18 km
CuddingtonRiver gauge, River Thame 0.63 m Very low −0.42 m 23 km
Aylesbury ThameRiver gauge, River Thame 0.88 m Normal −0.02 m 30 km
Rowsham BridgeRiver gauge, River Thame 0.09 m Low ±0 36 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Days LockRiver gauge, River Thames 0.19 m High ±0 1.1 km
Clifton LockRiver gauge, River Thames 0.10 m Normal −0.01 m 3.4 km
Benson LockRiver gauge, River Thames 0.01 m Very low −0.01 m 4.2 km
Sutton CourtenayRiver gauge, River Thames 2.05 m Normal −0.03 m 6.3 km
ChalgroveRiver gauge, Chalgrove Brook 1.04 m Low +0.01 m 6.6 km
EwelmeRiver gauge, Ewelme Brook 0.07 m Normal ±0 6.6 km
Culham LockRiver gauge, River Thames 0.11 m Normal −0.02 m 7.2 km
Abingdon LockRiver gauge, River Thames 0.04 m Very low ±0 7.9 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Thame at Dorchester higher than last year?

No, it is 0.04 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.28 m.

What is a normal level for the River Thame at Dorchester in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.44 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.31 m and 1.29 m, based on 16 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 0.24 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Dorchester today?

On 19 Oct 2026, 14:15 BST, the water level was 0.24 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Dorchester rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Down 0.02 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Dorchester normal?

Very low for mid-October. Compared with 16 years of daily readings for this time of year.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Dorchester?

The highest level on record is 3.23 m on January 6, 2024. The lowest is 0.15 m on October 4, 2011.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:1993TH (Agency page)
Coordinates
51.64104, -1.16376 (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

ParameterLast valueTime (UTC)Quality
Water level 0.24 m 2026-10-19 13:15 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Dorchester (ea:1993TH). Accessed October 19, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/oxfordshire/dorchester

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.