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Melksham Shaw water level

River gauge, South Brook, Wiltshire, United Kingdom

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Right now

Low for mid-October

Water level

0.05m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 Highest onrecord 1.71 m Lowest on record 0.00 m

History

History
-0.00.10.2mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 18Oct 18Bottom of normal range-0.00.10.2mOct 16Oct 17Oct 18Bottom of normal range
-0.00.30.50.8mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range-0.00.30.50.8mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
-0.00.30.50.8mJanMarMayJulSepNov2026-0.00.30.50.8mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

At 0.05 m, South Brook at Melksham Shaw is below normal for mid-October.

That puts it 0.03 m below the median of 0.08 m for mid-October, based on 10 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.04 m (+0.01 m).

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.04 m and 0.08 m.

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

Compared with 10 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date
0.08 m0.03 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.03 m – 0.25 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (10 years of records)
Normal range
0.00 m – 0.80 m
Same day last year
0.04 m+0.01 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.04 m – 0.08 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.04 m – 0.71 m
Highest on record
1.71 mJanuary 12, 2023
Lowest on record
0.00 mJuly 12, 2019

On the river at Melksham Shaw

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.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 3.0 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

18 Sun 13° 7° – Wind 19 km/h
19 Mon 14° 8° 4.6 mm, 95% Wind 18 km/h
20 Tue 12° 9° 8.9 mm, 85% Wind 13 km/h
21 Wed 13° 4° 3.6 mm, 61% Wind 28 km/h
22 Thu 14° 5° 0.8 mm, 77% Wind 15 km/h
23 Fri 9° 6° 22 mm, 78% Wind 31 km/h
24 Sat 10° 5° 1.4 mm, 59% Wind 27 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:38 AM Sunset 06:11 PM Daylight 10 hr, 34 min First quarter 53%

Map

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Melksham ClackersRiver gauge, Clackers Brook 0.02 m Very low ±0 4.1 km
Corsham AqueductRiver gauge 0.01 m Very low ±0 4.2 km
CorshamRiver gauge, River Avon 0.02 m Very low ±0 4.3 km
SemingtonRiver gauge, Semington Brook 0.32 m Normal ±0 5.7 km
MiddlehillRiver gauge, By Brook 0.16 m Very low −0.03 m 7.9 km
Chippenham GateRiver gauge 43.15 m Low ±0 8.0 km
Trowbridge PaxcroftRiver gauge 0.10 m Very low ±0 8.5 km
TrowbridgeRiver gauge, River Biss 0.18 m Low −0.01 m 8.8 km

Questions and answers

How does South Brook at Melksham Shaw compare with last year?

It is 0.01 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.04 m.

What is a normal level for South Brook at Melksham Shaw in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.08 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.03 m and 0.25 m, based on 10 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 0.05 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Melksham Shaw today?

On 18 Oct 2026, 21:45 BST, the water level was 0.05 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Melksham Shaw rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Melksham Shaw normal?

Low for mid-October. Compared with 10 years of daily readings for this time of year.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Melksham Shaw?

The highest level on record is 1.71 m on January 12, 2023. The lowest is 0.00 m on July 12, 2019.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:531189 (Agency page)
Coordinates
51.39204, -2.16298 (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 0.05 m 2026-10-18 20:45 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Melksham Shaw (ea:531189). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/wiltshire/melksham-shaw

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.