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Tide

All users should be very aware of the tides and flow rates on the river. The Port of London authority (PLA) publish tide books and have a live tide facility on their website. Some tide tables quote heights at London Bridge, others at Tower, but they are the same location when calculating tides. Depending on which source data is used, there are variations in heights and times between different tide table sources.

Flow rates on the river can exceed 4.5 knots in places.

The PLA live tide page offers the latest up to date information for London Bridge / Tower.

You can also download the PLA tide tables, which contains essential tide and bridge data to navigate the tidal Thames.

On the Tide times website, you can find some useful tidal planning tools. You can also sign up to get daily tide times for London Bridge (Tower Pier) via RSS feed.

The Thames is heavily used by commercial craft which can generate significant wash. Upstream of the Thames barrier there are regular fast ferry services travelling at 30 knots using the piers on both sides of the river. There are also numerous fast RIB trip boats also travelling at 30 knots. The ferries may moor at either end or the centre of a pier, dependent on tide and traffic conditions.

Download the tide and lock data ^{(PDF, 115kb)} here.

Part 1Navigation Part 3Weather

Page last updated: 23 November 2022

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