We had a lovely sunny day of it today. Flood tourists came to Abingdon to look out across the magnificent sight of so much water.

The water level upstream from Abingdon Lock was almost as high as it has been.

Downstream from the Lock it was quite choppy as the wind sent waves back towards the Lock . Those lock gates are supposed to be renovated between January and March 2014 but there has been no chance of work starting yet.

People were suprised to see a vehicle attempt to drive along the road from Abingdon Lock back to the mainland. But having got some way it reversed back and then turned to return to the lock.

The Abbey Meadow Water Park lives up to its name and warning … “If you are standing in the water play area you will get wet.”

There were lots of sandbags in the B&Q Car Park and the Cattle Market Car Park earlier today, but the supply got used up and I’m not sure there are any more until Monday. For District Council advice see Severe Weather / Flooding.

The Tesco Car Park got flooded earlier today.

The Tesco Road and Car Park remain under water this evening. The River Ock is higher than it has been any time this winter.

A lot of those sand bags have been used to try and protect the Ladygrove Estate and roads bordering the River Ock including Ock Street.

There was a meeting at the end of Chaunterell Way, with the MP, and Leader of the District Council, and Environment Agency this afternoon. Town Council staff helped build barricades of sandbags.

At about 7:30pm, Councillors Alice and Mike Badcock told me that the water level has gone down a little from the peak of that afternoon. But people will probably have a worrying night.

P.S. Thanks to Rudi for the link on the comment to the measuring station. As can be seen the Ock is now going down but the Thames with its larger catchment is still rising.

Thanks to Steve King for the first two pictures The first is of “Townsend” in South Abingdon. Steve says “Little wonder it flooded, the front gardens on one side of the entire road have been paved over, the water has nowhere to go !”

The second was taken this morning on Nags Head Island, and shows the narrow boat “Queen of Hearts” has sunk. It had lost its rear mooring a couple of weeks back when part of the bank gave way. It was moored again but sadly things have gone wrong and the consequences have been more severe.

The River Thames is no longer as high as during its peak in January but more rain over the last week has seen the River rise again. Many fields are still underwater like these looking from Peep-o-Day Lane towards Didcot Power Station.

The Marina Park is still an island. It may well have been cut off since Christmas.

Anybody wanting to walk along the Ock Valley walk will find that the path is still blocked. Water levels are down a long way down from a week ago, but protective barriers remain.

There are not only barriers on the Ock Valley Walk, and the Margaret Brown garden, but also on the viewing area on Wilsham Road, where a hole has appeared during the floods.