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Stisted water level

River gauge, River Blackwater, Essex, United Kingdom

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Right now

Very high for mid-October

Water level

0.30m Down 0.02 m over the last 24 hours

0 1 2 Highest onrecord 2.10 m Lowest on record 0.06 m

History

History
0.10.20.3mOct 16Oct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.10.20.3mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.10.20.30.4mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Bottom of normal range0.10.20.30.4mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Bottom of normal range
0.10.20.30.4mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.10.20.30.4mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

The River Blackwater at Stisted is well above normal at 0.30 m.

The median for mid-October is 0.17 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.13 m above typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.14 m, a difference of +0.15 m. The record high is 2.10 m, set on October 22, 2001.

It has dropped 0.02 m over the past 24 hours. In the last month it has stayed between 0.28 m and 0.31 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
0.17 m0.13 m above the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.14 m – 0.22 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.09 m – 1.27 m
Same day last year
0.14 m+0.15 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.28 m – 0.31 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.12 m – 0.42 m
Highest on record
2.10 mOctober 22, 2001
Lowest on record
0.06 mJuly 28, 2008

Flood levels and safety

A high reading on its own does not mean property is at risk. The warnings issued by the Environment Agency take local defences and the forecast into account.

Readings can change quickly after heavy rain upstream, so check again before heading near the water.

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

17 Sat 13° 7° 0.4 mm, 27% Wind 22 km/h
18 Sun 13° 7° 1.9 mm, 55% Wind 23 km/h
19 Mon 13° 9° 8.6 mm, 50% Wind 18 km/h
20 Tue 15° 12° 2.6 mm, 33% Wind 17 km/h
21 Wed 14° 8° 2.5 mm, 43% Wind 36 km/h
22 Thu 13° 7° 2.0 mm, 26% Wind 37 km/h
23 Fri 12° 6° 3.3 mm, 60% Wind 29 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:26 AM Sunset 06:02 PM Daylight 10 hr, 36 min First quarter 40%

Map

Other gauges on the River Blackwater

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Appleford BridgeRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.37 m High ±0 9.9 km
Blackwater BridgeRiver gauge, River Blackwater 1.35 m High +0.01 m 114 km
FarnboroughRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.61 m Low −0.05 m 114 km
TonghamRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.66 m Normal −0.03 m 118 km
EversleyRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.53 m Very low +0.01 m 119 km
SwallowfieldRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.22 m Low +0.01 m 122 km
Swallowfield Side ChannelRiver gauge, River Blackwater 0.21 m Low +0.02 m 122 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
BraintreeRiver gauge, Pods Brook 0.20 m Normal ±0 6.0 km
Earls ColneRiver gauge, River Colne 0.11 m Very low −0.01 m 8.3 km
Guithavon ValleyRiver gauge, River Brain 0.17 m Normal +0.01 m 9.8 km
Poole StreetRiver gauge, River Colne 0.07 m Normal ±0 12 km
FelstedRiver gauge, River Chelmer 0.14 m Low ±0 13 km
Copford HallRiver gauge, River Pant 0.27 m High ±0 14 km
Bures BridgeRiver gauge, River Stour 0.22 m Normal −0.01 m 15 km
LamarshRiver gauge, River Stour 0.36 m Very low ±0 15 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Blackwater at Stisted higher than last year?

Yes, it is 0.15 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.14 m.

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

The median for mid-October is 0.17 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.14 m and 0.22 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 0.30 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Stisted today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 14:30 BST, the water level was 0.30 m. Down 0.02 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Stisted rising or falling?

Down 0.02 m over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Stisted normal?

Very high for mid-October. Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Stisted?

The highest level on record is 2.10 m on October 22, 2001. The lowest is 0.06 m on July 28, 2008.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:E22798 (Agency page)
Coordinates
51.88835, 0.60381 (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 0.30 m 2026-10-17 13:30 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Stisted (ea:E22798). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/essex/stisted

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.