Polstead water level
River gauge, River Box, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Right now
Very low for mid-October
Water level
History
20252026
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
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.
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.
Forecast: Open-Meteo
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
| Parameter | Last value | Time (UTC) | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water level | 0.11 m | 2026-10-17 09:15 | Provisional |
Download
Embed this gauge
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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.
Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer