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Tongham water level

River gauge, River Blackwater, Surrey, United Kingdom

Directions

Right now

Normal for mid-October

Water level

0.66m Down 0.03 m over the last 24 hours

0.5 1.0 1.5 Highest onrecord 1.79 m Lowest on record 0.54 m

History

History
0.60.70.8mOct 16Oct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.60.70.8mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.51.01.5mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.51.01.5mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.50.81.01.3mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.50.81.01.3mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

The River Blackwater at Tongham is at 0.66 m, in the normal range for mid-October.

The median for mid-October is 0.64 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.02 m above typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.67 m, a difference of −0.01 m.

It has dropped 0.03 m over the past 24 hours. In the last month it has stayed between 0.66 m and 0.69 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
0.64 m0.02 m above the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.57 m – 0.82 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.56 m – 1.50 m
Same day last year
0.67 m−0.01 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.66 m – 0.69 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.49 m – 1.31 m
Highest on record
1.79 mJuly 20, 2007
Lowest on record
0.54 mOctober 2, 2009

Fishing and paddling

Paddlers and anglers can expect the river much as they know it, though a heavy shower upstream can change that within hours.

Flood alerts and warnings come from the Environment Agency.

About the River Blackwater

River Blackwater, Essex

The River Blackwater is a river in Essex, England. It rises as the River Pant in the northwest of the county, just east of Saffron Walden, and flows in a generally southeast direction to Bocking, near Braintree, via Great Sampford and Great Bardfield. At Bocking, it becomes the River Blackwater, and veers east to flow past Bradwell Juxta Coggeshall and Coggeshall. It then veers south, flowing past Kelvedon and Witham, before reaching Maldon. There, it veers east again and empties into the Blackwater Estuary, which in turn meets the North Sea at Mersea Island. The river is connected to Domsey Brook in Essex.

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

17 Sat 13° 6° 0.4 mm Wind 18 km/h
18 Sun 12° 7° 1.5 mm, 39% Wind 21 km/h
19 Mon 14° 7° 0.4 mm, 47% Wind 12 km/h
20 Tue 13° 10° 2.5 mm, 53% Wind 11 km/h
21 Wed 13° 8° 1.5 mm, 49% Wind 19 km/h
22 Thu 14° 6° 1.9 mm, 56% Wind 18 km/h
23 Fri 14° 7° 16 mm, 78% Wind 34 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:30 AM Sunset 06:08 PM Daylight 10 hr, 38 min First quarter 41%

Map

Other gauges on the River Blackwater

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
FarnboroughRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.61 m Low −0.05 m 6.7 km
Blackwater BridgeRiver gauge, River Blackwater 1.34 m High ±0 11 km
EversleyRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.53 m Very low −0.01 m 17 km
SwallowfieldRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.22 m Low +0.01 m 22 km
Swallowfield Side ChannelRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.20 m Low +0.02 m 22 km
OwerRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.06 m Low −0.01 m 64 km
Appleford BridgeRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.37 m High ±0 117 km
StistedRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.30 m Very high −0.02 m 118 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
FarnhamRiver gauge, River Wey 0.09 m Normal ±0 5.6 km
TilfordRiver gauge, River Wey 0.16 m Low ±0 6.2 km
Cove Hazel AvenueRiver gauge, Cove Brook 0.76 m Normal −0.09 m 6.6 km
Mayfield RoadRiver gauge, Cove Brook 0.89 m Normal −0.17 m 8.1 km
Crondall BridgeRiver gauge, River Hart 0.10 m Normal ±0 8.5 km
Crondall PondRiver gauge, River Hart 0.40 m Normal −0.01 m 8.9 km
Crookham VillageRiver gauge, River Hart 0.42 m Normal −0.02 m 9.6 km
Borough RoadRiver gauge, River Wey 1.19 m Normal ±0 10.0 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Blackwater at Tongham higher than last year?

No, it is 0.01 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.67 m.

What is a normal level for the River Blackwater at Tongham in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.64 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.57 m and 0.82 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 0.66 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Tongham today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 15:30 BST, the water level was 0.66 m. Down 0.03 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Tongham rising or falling?

Down 0.03 m over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Tongham 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 Tongham?

The highest level on record is 1.79 m on July 20, 2007. The lowest is 0.54 m on October 2, 2009.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:2419TH (Agency page)
Coordinates
51.23734, -0.73629 (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 0.66 m 2026-10-17 14:30 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Tongham (ea:2419TH). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/surrey/tongham

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.