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Polstead water level

River gauge, River Box, Suffolk, United Kingdom

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Right now

Very low for mid-October

Water level

0.11m Steady over the last 24 hours

0.0 0.5 1.0 Highest onrecord 1.25 m Lowest on record 0.07 m

History

History
0.100.130.150.18mOct 16Oct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.100.130.150.18mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.20.40.6mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.20.40.6mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.10.20.30.4mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.10.20.30.4mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

The River Box at Polstead is running far below normal at 0.11 m.

The median for mid-October is 0.13 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.02 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.13 m, a difference of −0.02 m. The lowest reading on record is 0.07 m (August 15, 1997).

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
0.13 m0.02 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.11 m – 0.17 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.10 m – 0.68 m
Same day last year
0.13 m−0.02 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.11 m – 0.11 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.08 m – 0.38 m
Highest on record
1.25 mJanuary 30, 1988
Lowest on record
0.07 mAugust 15, 1997

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 Box

River Box

The River Box is a small river, 14 miles (23 km) in length, that flows through Suffolk, England. It is a tributary of the River Stour.

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: 0.5 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

17 Sat 13° 7° 0.2 mm Wind 22 km/h
18 Sun 12° 8° 5.8 mm, 52% Wind 26 km/h
19 Mon 13° 10° 5.3 mm, 57% Wind 16 km/h
20 Tue 15° 12° 4.8 mm, 33% Wind 17 km/h
21 Wed 14° 8° 2.5 mm, 43% Wind 35 km/h
22 Thu 13° 7° 1.9 mm, 27% Wind 41 km/h
23 Fri 12° 6° 3.2 mm, 48% Wind 27 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:25 AM Sunset 06:00 PM Daylight 10 hr, 36 min First quarter 39%

Map

Other gauges on the River Box

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
BoxfordRiver gauge, River Box 1.20 m Normal ±0 3.5 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
LanghamRiver gauge, River Stour 0.25 m Very low ±0 4.9 km
HadleighRiver gauge, River Brett 0.31 m Normal ±0 6.4 km
Bures BridgeRiver gauge, River Stour 0.22 m Normal ±0 8.7 km
LamarshRiver gauge, River Stour 0.35 m Very low −0.01 m 9.7 km
LexdenRiver gauge, River Colne 0.20 m Very low ±0 12 km
Long MelfordRiver gauge, Chad Brook 0.19 m Normal ±0 14 km
Earls ColneRiver gauge, River Colne 0.11 m Very low −0.01 m 15 km
CockfieldRiver gauge, River Brett 0.02 m Low ±0 16 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Box at Polstead higher than last year?

No, it is 0.02 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.13 m.

What is a normal level for the River Box at Polstead in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.13 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.11 m and 0.17 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 0.11 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Polstead today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 10:15 BST, the water level was 0.11 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Polstead rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Polstead 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 Polstead?

The highest level on record is 1.25 m on January 30, 1988. The lowest is 0.07 m on August 15, 1997.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:E22697 (Agency page)
Coordinates
52.00394, 0.89097 (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 0.11 m 2026-10-17 09:15 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Polstead (ea:E22697). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/suffolk/polstead

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.