Latest news on what the river is actually doing: Barrier, Tides, River flow, Floods
Caution: Based on automated data capture. Accuracy not guaranteed. See notes below.
SUMMARY as at 06:10 on 8 Dec 2023
- Thames Barrier open
- River level in Central London is about 0.7 metres lower than predicted
- River flow at Kingston (161 cumecs) is STRONG. This may result in slightly higher water levels and earlier tides than predicted (at both high and low tide) between Richmond and Putney.
- No local Thames flood alerts
- Hammersmith Bridge: On the bridge, open to pedestrian and cycle traffic only. Under the bridge, passage by river traffic allowed only when green arrows displayed. No passage if red X displayed. See PLA NTM U4/2021, issued 16 Jul 2021.
PLA EBB TIDE FLAG WARNING
This is today's advice from the PLA that applies particularly to river users on the ebb tide.
If the flag does not appear below, use this link to see it in a new window: FLAG
RAW DATA as at 06:10 on 8 Dec 2023
For those of you who prefer to see the actual numbers on which the summary above was based, here is the raw data. Please note the explanations and legal note below the data.
| Tide Gauge | Actual height (CD*) | Actual height (AOD*) | Surge |
| Southend | 3.17 | 0.27 | -0.66 |
| Silvertown | 2.98 | -0.37 | -0.97 |
| Charlton | 2.99 | -0.36 | -0.96 |
| Tower | 2.82 | -0.38 | -0.84 |
| Chelsea | 2.14 | -0.30 | -0.52 |
| Richmond | 1.87 | 1.26 | +0.79 |
| Kingston flow gauge | flow rate 161 cumecs (m3/sec) as at 05:45, 8 Dec - latest available data | ||
* CD: Height of water level in metres above local Chart Datum.
AOD: height of water level in metres Above Ordnance Datum, which enables a direct comparison with known land heights. See this page for more information.
Tide gauge data is obtained in real time from the Port of London Authority (PLA), based normally on measurements in the previous 5 minutes. Actual tide heights are shown relative to both the local chart datum and the Ordnance Datum. "Surge" is the difference between the actual height and the prediction in the tide tables, which typically is caused by current or recent weather conditions. The Kingston flow gauge reading and flood alert information are obtained from the Environment Agency (EA) using their real-time data API (Beta). The barrier open/closed status is based solely on the difference in recorded river levels either side of the barrier (Charlton & Silvertown) and assumes accurate readings from those gauges.
I am grateful to PLA and EA for permission to use the above data.
Legal note: The recording and capture of the data is performed by automatic processes, and the data is essentially unvalidated at the time of display here. Accuracy is not guaranteed. PLA, EA and I do not accept any responsibility in law for the information presented here. - Richard Jennings