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Appleford Bridge water level

River gauge, River Blackwater, Essex, United Kingdom

Directions

Right now

Normal for mid-October

Water level

0.37m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 2 Highest onrecord 2.33 m Lowest on record 0.12 m

History

History
0.20.30.4mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 18Oct 18Bottom of normal range0.20.30.4mOct 16Oct 17Oct 18Bottom of normal range
0.51.0mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.51.0mOct 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

Water levels are unremarkable at Appleford Bridge, where the gauge shows 0.37 m.

That puts it 0.06 m above the median of 0.31 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.26 m (+0.11 m).

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours.

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
0.31 m0.06 m above the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.25 m – 0.43 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.13 m – 1.26 m
Same day last year
0.26 m+0.11 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.37 m – 0.37 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.21 m – 0.57 m
Highest on record
2.33 mOctober 22, 2001
Lowest on record
0.12 mAugust 15, 1988

For anglers and canoeists

This is an ordinary level for the river: most put-ins, beats and weirs behave as they usually do.

Many angling and canoe clubs check gauges like this one before heading out.

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

18 Sun 14° 8° 7.1 mm, 100% Wind 25 km/h
19 Mon 14° 10° 5.3 mm, 100% Wind 11 km/h
20 Tue 14° 12° 5.2 mm, 53% Wind 17 km/h
21 Wed 14° 8° 3.2 mm, 40% Wind 26 km/h
22 Thu 14° 6° 0.9 mm, 60% Wind 22 km/h
23 Fri 13° 7° 39 mm, 67% Wind 35 km/h
24 Sat 10° 4° – Wind 26 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:27 AM Sunset 05:59 PM Daylight 10 hr, 32 min First quarter 51%

Map

Other gauges on the River Blackwater

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
StistedRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.33 m Very high +0.03 m 9.9 km
FarnboroughRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.60 m Low ±0 113 km
Blackwater BridgeRiver gauge, River Blackwater 1.33 m High ±0 114 km
TonghamRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.64 m Normal −0.02 m 117 km
EversleyRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.52 m Very low −0.03 m 119 km
SwallowfieldRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.20 m Very low ±0 122 km
Swallowfield Side ChannelRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.17 m Very low −0.01 m 122 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Guithavon ValleyRiver gauge, River Brain 0.16 m Low ±0 2.9 km
BraintreeRiver gauge, Pods Brook 0.20 m Normal ±0 13 km
Sandon BridgeRiver gauge, Sandon Brook 0.06 m Very low ±0 14 km
Earls ColneRiver gauge, River Colne 0.11 m Very low −0.01 m 14 km
LexdenRiver gauge, River Colne 0.20 m Very low ±0 16 km
SpringfieldRiver gauge, River Chelmer 0.12 m Low ±0 16 km
Beach's MillRiver gauge, River Can 0.25 m Low −0.01 m 18 km
FelstedRiver gauge, River Chelmer 0.14 m Low ±0 18 km

Questions and answers

How does the River Blackwater at Appleford Bridge compare with last year?

It is 0.11 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.26 m.

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

The median for mid-October is 0.31 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.25 m and 0.43 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 0.37 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Appleford Bridge today?

On 18 Oct 2026, 18:45 BST, the water level was 0.37 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Appleford Bridge rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Appleford Bridge 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 Appleford Bridge?

The highest level on record is 2.33 m on October 22, 2001. The lowest is 0.12 m on August 15, 1988.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:E22815 (Agency page)
Coordinates
51.81041, 0.67471 (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 0.37 m 2026-10-18 17:45 Provisional

Download

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Add a live card for this gauge to your website. It updates on its own and links back here.

How to cite

Environment Agency: Appleford Bridge (ea:E22815). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/essex/appleford-bridge

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.