Jubilee River repairs, 9 October 2020

The Jubilee River will not be available to provide protection from flooding of the River Thames to Cookham, Maidenhead,... for several weeks from 9 October 2020 while emergency repairs are carried out to Black Potts Weir. 

 If you haven't done so already, it's a good time to signup for early warnings of flooding with the EA Floodline Warnings online or on 0345 988 1188.

 

 

 

Flood Alerts and Warnings

Flood Alerts and Flood Warnings for four areas relevant to Cookham are issued by the Environment Agency and published on the gov.uk Flood Information Service , as well as via the telephone, text and email flood warning service.

When things first start to look dicey, the Environment Agency will declare a Flood Alert for the 'River Thames from Hurley to Cookham'. This area includes Cookham village, East Cookham Rise, the parts of Cookham Dean down by the river, Spade Oak Reach and Cock Marsh. 'Flood Alert' is the lowest level of warning and indicates "Flooding is possible. Be prepared." If things get worse, the EA will declare Flood Warnings for smaller parts of the Hurley to Cookham stretch of the Thames. Most of Cookham is covered by an area named 'Cookham village and east Cookham Rise', which includes Marsh Meadow, Cookham Moor and Widbrook Common. For people concerned about Spade Oak Reach and Cock Marsh, the appropriate EA Flood Warning area is the River Thames at 'Bourne End'. For the parts of Cookham Dean down by the river, the Flood Warning information is given in the area the EA call 'River Thames at Marlow and Bisham'.

The EA map of our Flood Warning areas shows which parts of Cookham fall into each area (pdf 2.9MB), with kind permission of EA Partnership & Strategic Overview team, Berks and Bucks, 14 September 2015). 

Surface water flooding in Cookham

Weather forecast data interpolated geographically to a point in Cookham.

River level

gov.uk publishes a live map of English and Welsh river levels. Or for a different presentation go to the gaugemap site.

Live hourly updates of the Environment Agency river gauge at Cookham Lock (upstream) should be displayed by the widget below.

1.46m - highest level in these records (January 2003)..... 1.36m - 2014 maximum level reached on on 10 February, Cookham village cut off by road..... 1.24m - in 2014 the water on Spade Oak Reach road was too deep for cars when the river reached this level.....1.22m - at about ths level the sewage pumping station at Lightlands Lane stops working due to flooded electrics...1.18m  - at this level Sutton Road at Widbrook Common flooded in 2014..... 1.12m  - when the river rose this high in 2014 the A4094 north of Cookham bridge flooded...... 1.00m is the level when the Moor Road (B4447 west of Cookham High Street) started to flood in 2013 and in 2014, number 37 bus stops running..... 0.60m - the normal range at Cookham Lock is 0 to 0.60m, flooding is possible above 0.60m.

The Environment Agency also publishes river conditions for boaters along the whole River Thames.

Weather forecast relevant to flooding of the Thames

Why show a weather forecast for Oxford instead of Cookham? Flooding in Cookham is determined by the rainfall in the upstream catchment of the River Thames.  Oxford is roughly in the middle of the upstream catchment and so the rainfall forecast there is a better indicator of future flooding than a more local site. It takes a couple of days for rain running into the Thames at Oxford to flow down the river to Cookham.

Telephone numbers

Environment Agency Floodline. Call Floodline on  0345 988 1188, select option 1 and enter Quickdial number 173199 to get more information about current flood warnings, river levels and the forecast for Cookham.

To report flooding in our area, or to contact the local Environment Agency Duty Officer, call the EA's Incident Communication Service on 0845 850 3518.

Thames Water 24hr customer care 0800 316 9800.

Contact Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead on 01628 683800 during the following hours:

·         Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday : 9am-7pm,

·         Wednesdays : 10am-7pm,

·         Saturdays : 9am-5pm,

·         Sundays : 11am-2pm.

Or if outside these hours call us on 01753 853517.

Cookham Parish Council Flood Hub.  For local information, and to receive or offer non-emergency help to Cookham residents or businesses.  During a flood call 07593 528060 or 07593 528062.

Quick Links

Cookham Flood warnings for TODAY from the gov.uk Flood Information Service

Environment Agency guide to preparing your property for flooding (pdf 1.1Mb) for householders and small businesses.

5-day flood risk forecast for England and Wales from the gov.uk Flood Information Service.

New buildings - Improving the flood risk performance (2007) DCLG, defra, EA managed by CIRIA

Real-time Lightning Maps