River Conditions

13/2/25 Thursday

We have decided to decide whether to go ahead or not until 11 a.m on Friday, so that the up to date EA status can be checked.

12/2/25 Wednesday

The organisers reviewed river conditions at 1200 on Wednesday 12 February.  Although the EA Flag status is currently Red, the local river level is normal and the stream is not a cause for concern.  There are other reasons for optimism:

-the Met Office forecast is for no rain upstream for the rest of the week;

– locks have been releasing as much water as possible in the last couple of days to clear the backlog from recent rains (explaining current high flow rates), and some stretches are now reducing to Amber flags;

– Saturday’s forecast is for light winds and a temperature of 5-6°

In short, we are optimistic that conditions may well improve and allow the Head to proceed as planned.  But a final decision will be taken at 0900 on Friday.

Here is the BBC Weather Forecast. 

• Our decision regarding cancellation due to weather and river conditions is based on several factors – stream speed (a stick test – a floating object going past the club landing stage – being greater than 30 seconds), the EA status, the MBC flag status, the flow gauge at Walton being under 130 cms, wind velocity and its direction, air temperature +wind chill, water temperature (not below 6 degrees). Under no circumstances will the event be run on red boards.

Here is the EA current status. https://www.gov.uk/check-river-conditions-and-closures/river-thames

See GO NO GO decision table.