River & drought watch

How the River Wensum is flowing compared with normal for the time of year — a live Environment Agency signal, with the official hosepipe/restriction status alongside.

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Wensum · Costessey Mill, on the Wensum just above the city

1.34 m³/s

The Wensum is very low for the time of year. Steady over the past couple of weeks. Daily mean for Friday 9 October.

Around the 2nd percentile of October flows on record. That is about 53% of the normal October flow.

1.34 m³/s

Flow now

latest daily-mean discharge

1.98 m³/s – 3.79 m³/s

Typical for the month

the usual middle range in October (25th–75th percentile)

2.52 m³/s

Normal for the month

the long-term median October flow

Worth knowing

Why the Wensum matters here

The Wensum is a rare chalk stream and Norwich's own river. Norfolk is the driest county in one of the driest regions of the UK, and the same chalk that feeds the river also supplies much of the area's drinking water — so when it runs low it matters for both the wildlife the river is famous for and the supply.

What the official picture says

Anglian Water introduced a Temporary Use Ban (a hosepipe ban) across its area, Norwich included, from 11 July 2026, after the second-driest spring on record and a summer heatwave; it has said the ban could last well into the autumn or beyond. This page shows how the river is flowing day to day; the official drought status and the rules of the ban are decided by the Environment Agency and Anglian Water, not here.