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Grendon Underwood water level

River gauge, River Ray, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom

Directions

Right now

Low for mid-October

Water level

0.03m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 2 Highest onrecord 1.86 m Lowest on record -0.21 m

History

History
-0.000.050.100.15mOct 12Oct 14Oct 15Oct 17Oct 19Bottom of normal range-0.000.050.100.15mOct 12Oct 15Oct 19Bottom of normal range
-0.000.050.100.15mSep 19Sep 26Oct 4Oct 11Oct 19Bottom of normal range-0.000.050.100.15mSep 19Oct 4Oct 19Bottom of normal range
-0.00.51.0mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range-0.00.51.0mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
-0.30.00.30.5mJanMarMayJulSepNov2026-0.30.00.30.5mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

The River Ray at Grendon Underwood is running below normal at 0.03 m.

That puts it 0.03 m below the median of 0.05 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.01 m (+0.02 m).

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. In the last month it has stayed between 0.02 m and 0.04 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
0.05 m0.03 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.01 m – 0.13 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.01 m – 0.94 m
Same day last year
0.01 m+0.02 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.02 m – 0.04 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
−0.19 m – 0.61 m
Highest on record
1.86 mJune 3, 2008
Lowest on record
−0.21 mNovember 16, 1990

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 Ray

River Ray

The River Ray is a tributary of the River Cherwell in south east England. It rises at Quainton Hill, Buckinghamshire and flows west through flat countryside for around 25 km (16 mi) to meet the Cherwell at Islip in Oxfordshire.

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

18 Sun 13° 6° 4.4 mm, 57% Wind 24 km/h
19 Mon 14° 9° 2.3 mm, 95% Wind 18 km/h
20 Tue 12° 9° 12 mm, 71% Wind 10 km/h
21 Wed 14° 6° 4.5 mm, 54% Wind 25 km/h
22 Thu 13° 5° 0.5 mm, 48% Wind 18 km/h
23 Fri 10° 6° 31 mm, 76% Wind 37 km/h
24 Sat 10° 3° – Wind 27 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:36 AM Sunset 06:04 PM Daylight 10 hr, 28 min First quarter 56%

Map

Other gauges on the River Ray

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Lower ArncottRiver gauge, River Ray 0.45 m Normal ±0 7.8 km
IslipRiver gauge, River Ray 6.76 m Normal ±0 17 km
Water EatonRiver gauge, River Ray 1.00 m Normal +0.03 m 62 km
RodbourneRiver gauge, River Ray 0.11 m Very low ±0 65 km
Rushey PlattRiver gauge, River Ray 0.72 m Low +0.02 m 66 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Langford VillageRiver gauge, Langford Brook 0.27 m Normal +0.03 m 8.5 km
CuddingtonRiver gauge, River Thame 1.03 m Very low −0.02 m 11 km
WendleburyRiver gauge, Wendlebury Brook 0.97 m Normal ±0 12 km
Aylesbury ThameRiver gauge, River Thame 0.73 m Normal +0.04 m 13 km
BuckinghamRiver gauge, River Great Ouse 0.13 m Normal ±0 13 km
Thame BridgeRiver gauge, River Thame 1.05 m Low −0.03 m 15 km
ThornboroughRiver gauge, River Great Ouse 0.30 m Low −0.01 m 15 km
Churchill AvenueRiver gauge, Southcourt Brook 0.69 m Normal +0.01 m 15 km

Questions and answers

How does the River Ray at Grendon Underwood compare with last year?

It is 0.02 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.01 m.

What is a normal level for the River Ray at Grendon Underwood in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.05 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.01 m and 0.13 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 0.03 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Grendon Underwood today?

On 19 Oct 2026, 06:30 BST, the water level was 0.03 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Grendon Underwood rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Steady over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Grendon Underwood 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 Grendon Underwood?

The highest level on record is 1.86 m on June 3, 2008. The lowest is −0.21 m on November 16, 1990.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:1471TH (Agency page)
Coordinates
51.88449, -1.01285 (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 0.03 m 2026-10-19 05:30 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Grendon Underwood (ea:1471TH). Accessed October 19, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/buckinghamshire/grendon-underwood

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.