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Bletchley water level

River gauge, River Ouzel, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom

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Right now

Low for mid-October

Water level

0.24m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 2 Highest onrecord 1.90 m Lowest on record 0.19 m

History

History
0.250.300.350.40mOct 16Oct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.250.300.350.40mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.20.40.60.8mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.20.40.60.8mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.20.40.60.8mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.20.40.60.8mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

The River Ouzel at Bletchley is running below normal at 0.24 m.

The median for mid-October is 0.27 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.03 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.25 m, a difference of −0.01 m.

It has barely moved over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. In the last month it has stayed between 0.22 m and 0.24 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
0.27 m0.03 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.23 m – 0.39 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.22 m – 0.68 m
Same day last year
0.25 m−0.01 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.22 m – 0.24 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.21 m – 0.84 m
Highest on record
1.90 mSeptember 24, 2024
Lowest on record
0.19 mAugust 11, 2006

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 Ouzel

River Ouzel

The River Ouzel, also known as the River Lovat, is a river in England, and a tributary of the River Great Ouse. It rises in the Chiltern Hills and flows 20 miles (32 km) north to join the Ouse at Newport Pagnell.

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

17 Sat 12° 6° 0.1 mm Wind 21 km/h
18 Sun 11° 7° 5.4 mm, 40% Wind 20 km/h
19 Mon 13° 8° 4.2 mm, 52% Wind 19 km/h
20 Tue 14° 9° 5.5 mm, 39% Wind 12 km/h
21 Wed 12° 7° 3.8 mm, 45% Wind 37 km/h
22 Thu 12° 6° 1.8 mm, 31% Wind 33 km/h
23 Fri 13° 7° 4.1 mm, 62% Wind 30 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:31 AM Sunset 06:07 PM Daylight 10 hr, 36 min First quarter 40%

Map

Other gauges on the River Ouzel

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
WillenRiver gauge, River Ouzel 0.26 m Low −0.02 m 8.6 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Clipstone BrookRiver gauge 0.05 m Very low ±0 8.5 km
BroughtonRiver gauge, Broughton Brook 0.12 m Normal −0.02 m 8.6 km
Newport Pagnell CemeteryRiver gauge, River Great Ouse 0.04 m Very low −0.01 m 12 km
HavershamRiver gauge, River Great Ouse 0.20 m Normal −0.04 m 12 km
PassenhamRiver gauge, River Great Ouse 2.18 m Normal −0.01 m 12 km
Newport PagnellRiver gauge, River Great Ouse 0.15 m Normal −0.02 m 12 km
Stony StratfordRiver gauge, River Great Ouse 0.13 m Low ±0 12 km
Rowsham BridgeRiver gauge, River Thame 0.08 m Low ±0 15 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Ouzel at Bletchley higher than last year?

No, it is 0.01 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.25 m.

What is a normal level for the River Ouzel at Bletchley in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.27 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.23 m and 0.39 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 0.24 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Bletchley today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 12:30 BST, the water level was 0.24 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Bletchley rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Bletchley normal?

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 Bletchley?

The highest level on record is 1.90 m on September 24, 2024. The lowest is 0.19 m on August 11, 2006.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:E21505 (Agency page)
Coordinates
51.98125, -0.71573 (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 2026-10-17 11:30 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Bletchley (ea:E21505). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/buckinghamshire/bletchley

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.