Thames NOW

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 03:21 on 3 Dec 2024

 - Sorry, no real-time Barrier information available.
 - Sorry, no central London tide surge data available
 - River flow at Kingston (236 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.
 - Flood Alert for Thames Riverside properties

 - Hammersmith Bridge: Controls regarding the bridge are now included in the PLA Port Information Guide and will no longer be shown here. See https://www.pla.co.uk/Port-Information-Guide

FLOOD ALERT for Thames Riverside, Putney to Teddington

Message from the Environment Agency:
River levels are expected to be high as a result of spring tides.

The forecast high tide at Richmond is 4.65mAOD at 14:45 on 02/12/24 and 4.85mAOD at 03:00 on 03/12/24.

Flooding of low-lying roads and footpaths is expected, which may exist for one to two hours either side of high tide. Flooding of properties is not expected.

We believe there is a possibility of flooding for Putney Embankment (SW15), Chiswick Mall and Strand on the Green (W4), Thames Bank at Mortlake (SW14), Ranelagh Drive (TW1), Friars Lane and Water Lane (TW9), Riverside and The Embankment at Twickenham, and the Towpath below Teddington Lock.

Astronomical tide levels are rising. The river flow at Teddington Weir is high for this time of year at 285 cubic metres per second and is falling. We anticipate the flows to remain high for the next few days.

We are closely monitoring the situation.

This message will be updated by 09:00 on 03/12/24, or as the situation changes.

Message updated: 08:26, 2 Dec
For flood alerts and warnings for other Thames areas, see the Environment Agency's Flood Information Service.

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PLA EBB TIDE FLAG WARNING
This is today's advice from the PLA that applies particularly to river users on the ebb tide.

RAW DATA as at 03:21 on 3 Dec 2024

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 GaugeActual height
(CD*)
Actual height
(AOD*)
Surge
Southend0.000.00+0.00
Silvertown0.00-3.35+0.00
Charlton0.000.00+0.00
Tower0.000.00+0.00
Chelsea0.000.00+0.00
Richmond0.00-0.61+0.00
Kingston flow gauge flow rate 236 cumecs (m3/sec)
as at 03:00, 3 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.

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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

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