Stisted water level
River gauge, River Blackwater, Essex, United Kingdom
Right now
Very high for mid-October
Water level
History
20252026
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
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.
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.
Forecast: Open-Meteo
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
| Parameter | Last value | Time (UTC) | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water level | 0.30 m | 2026-10-17 13:30 | Provisional |
Download
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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.
Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer