River Level ‘High’ At Millmead, But Flooding Is Not Expected

Published on: 3 Jan, 2016
Updated on: 3 Jan, 2016

The level of water in the River Wey appeared ‘high’ as it flowed through the centre of Guildford this evening (Sunday, January 3).

The River Wey at Millmead, Guildford on a misty Sunday evening, January 3.

However, the Environment Agency did not list this stretch of the river in its flood warning this evening, but did warn of flooding in the Upper River Wey, Cranleigh Waters and parts of the Hoe Stream at Woking.

On its website the agency noted:

Upper River Wey: the River Wey is rising in the Farnham, Passfield and Tilford areas. The river is already high, especially in the Tilford area, and people should be prepared to take action.

Cranleigh waters: water levels on the Cranleigh Waters are stable and falling very slowly but will remain sensitive to further rainfall. No property flooding is expected.

Hoe Stream: the Hoe Stream is continuing to rise slowly in the Woking area as a result of rainfall received today. No property flooding is expected.

Map from the Environment Agency’s website showing potential flooding in the area of the Upper River Wey.

Due to the heavy rain over the weekend, river levels have been rising and this has been noticeable in some places, such as the Millmead area of Guildford. However, on some lengths of the River Wey Navigations the water level is low. The stretch of the navigatation by Stoke Bridges in Woking Road being one example. This is likely to be due to slice gates being opened.

A view from Stoke Bridges, Woking Road, looking upstream and ther level of water in the canal section of the Wey Navigation is low. There is floodwater on the road named Riverside next to the navigation – but a not uncommon occurrence.

Tonight’s weather forcast for the Guildford area, issued by the Met Office, notes rain at first, soon clearing from the west to become dry and cloudy by midnight.

In the early hours of Monday the south coast will become windy with heavy showers, with lighter winds and only patchy light rain inland. Minimum temperature 5°C

On Monday, heavy showers along the south coast will spread inland to affect most areas south of London by afternoon. Elsewhere it will be mainly cloudy with patchy rain, becoming breezier later. Maximum Temperature 10°C

Tuesday will be cloudy with frequent showers, perhaps heavy. A few showers on Wednesday, but turning drier, with brighter spells possible. Thursday isn predicted to be wet and windy early, soon becoming brighter with further showers.

Responses to River Level ‘High’ At Millmead, But Flooding Is Not Expected

Mary Bedforth Reply

January 4, 2016 at 6:40 pm

Latest river level information for the Wey at Guildford
6:35pm Monday 04 January 2016
Latest level
2.08m Recorded at 2:30pm Monday 04 January 2016

https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/station/7240

YELLOW WARNING of RAIN for southeast England.
Issued at:1029 on Mon 4 Jan 2016

Valid from:1300 on Mon 4 Jan 2016
Valid to:1200 on Tue 5 Jan 2016

Heavy showers on Monday and into Tuesday, are likely to line up in bands across parts of south and southeast England. Up to 10 mm of rain may fall in an hour very locally with a few spots receiving 20-30 mm through the whole period.

Please be aware of the likelihood of localised surface water flooding affecting travel on roads at times.
jim Allen Reply

January 6, 2016 at 9:57 am

Having just looked at the Wey Catchment Area, it stretches down as far as Alton in Hampshire.

Farnham had 126mm of Rain, while Guildford had only 37mm over 16 days.

Merrow Stream had only 20mm over part (four days) of that period and the water nearly over topped that stream this weekend.

Clay Lane over tops at approx 65mm of constant rain, while ‘up north’ they had 165mm plus.

Just a slight twist of the wind direction in Rockall, Sole, Shannon, Fastnet or Finistere and we could have had that lot in Guildford.

We must be very careful when we say: “It hasn’t rained much in Guildford!”, because the Wey Valley Flood Plain at Burpham / Jacobs Well gets flooded when it rains heavily in Farnham, Cranleigh, Frensham, or Alton.

Just something to be remembered when damming the flood plain at Clay Lane is being promoted by the politicians, as not being a dam but ‘a slight restriction!’.
Sue Doughty Reply

January 8, 2016 at 9:35 am

Living close to the Cranleigh Waters / River Wey in Shalford, we get a chance to see how the flood waters are managed at close hand.

While I agree that freak rainfall such as in the north of England had would give us all a major problem, careful management of the sluices and locks at this end mean that a lot of water is held back in the wide floodplain south of Guildford.

Key to this is the knowledge and actions by Environment Agency and National Trust staff.

It’s vital that the level of staffing is maintained to ensure that no matter what happens, prompt action is taken to manage the River Wey’s flows to avoid damage to property.
Martin Elliott Reply

January 10, 2016 at 8:31 pm

After the floods last year, the council set up enquiries about the warning systems, protection, prevention and response.

You’d think a concise clear analysis would be easy to write. Assessing the adequacy of measures and response would be a bit more difficult.

Then answering the big questions, were the warnings and responses suitable and sufficient would then give rise to some heated discussion towards review and revision.

I can only remember one short document claiming all measures were adequate and sufficient for the levels of hazard.

That would explain why there has not been any discussion in the media about even the simplest queries.

Why are warning levels just based on overtoping of barrier?

There is no prediction of when the overtop happens 1-3-6-hours, so one knows how urgent deployment is.

I bet the same will happen this time around, if there is any review at all.