At the end of last week, the third named storm of this winter, Claudia, barrelled across the country bringing amber weather warnings and, for some, more than a month’s worth of rain.
Underlining the extremes of weather brought by climate change, the same day as the storm hit, the Environment Agency warned that without adequate rain this winter there will be worse levels of drought next year. Of course, while persistent and above average rainfall is much-needed, the impact of such a volume falling in a short space of time can be, as you’ll find out below, damaging for the network.
What happened?
Such was the size of this storm, all of the canal network was impacted by either monsoon-like conditions or high winds, usually both. Here’s our region-by-region guide:
East Midlands
Wherever possible we take preventative action to reduce the impact of any adverse weather events that are forecast. A prime example was on the Grand Union Canal around the Loughborough and Bishops Meadow area.
At 10:27am on Friday 14 November, before the storm hit, the regional team worked to reduce canal levels, after speaking to our asset team to ensure integrity of the canal wouldn’t be impacted. They reduced the level by 200ml for extra capacity from the River Soar if, as it did last winter, it overtopped.
Multiple, and substantial, trees were blown across the navigation on the Ashby, Grand Union and Trent & Mersey canals. Sadly, boats sank on multiple visitor moorings on the Fossdyke Navigation while others, on the same navigation, were floated on to the towpath by swollen water levels.
Flood gates were closed at Cranfleet and followed, in the early hours of Saturday, by those at Newark. Despite preparing for the worst, this intensive, round-the-clock, water management prevented the Soar from overtopping into the canal. That wasn’t the end of Claudia’s destruction though.
Boats floated on to towpath, Fossdyke Navigation, Storm Claudia
London & South East
Much like its northern neighbour in the East Midlands, the regional team spent hours moving water to prevent the excess water from overtopping. It was a close-run thing and, as you’ll see below, none more so than in Aylesbury Basin.
Trees were also blown over on the River Stort, the Wendover Arm and the Grand Union (South).
High water levels, Aylesbury, Grand Union, Storm Claudia
North West
As is often the case when a storm rolls in off the Atlantic, the North West region was hit especially hard. During Friday, multiple trees were reported fallen on the Peak Forest, Rochdale, and Lancaster canals with more following on Saturday, adding the Huddersfield Narrow to the list.
Water levels were also a constant issue. On Friday evening our SCADA system - a remote monitoring system that alerts when water levels get too high or too low, started chirping away.
The first alert was for high levels on the Shropshire Union Canal, so the team made their way to raise Diva sluice in Chester. Their next stop was a sluice on the River Weaver which was raised from 4ft to 16ft to let more water pass. Similar hands-on water management was also needed on the Rochdale Canal.
Given the sheer volume of rain and rising levels elsewhere, another priority was at Toddbrook Reservoir. While the massive engineering project is nearing completion, it’s not quite ready for the managed, and tested, refill stage.
A dedicated team was dispatched to closely monitor levels and operate pumps to maintain to keep them at the right height.
Wales & South West had fewer widespread issues but when the storm did make its presence known it did it in a big way. As you may have seen across the news, the poor people of Monmouth were inundated with rain that led to widespread flooding.
The River Monnow burst its banks and our nearby canal, the Monmouthshire & Brecon, was rising steadily. Due to flooding in the surrounding area it was difficult to access the canal, but we were able to remove obstructions to keep water moving and thankfully the canal didn’t overtop.
West Midlands
At Lock 27 on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, 12,000-volt cables were blown across the lock. We secured a wide perimeter around the site to protect boaters and the public.
As with other regions, windblown trees quickly became a recurring theme. The Shropshire Union, Staffs & Worcs and Grand Union all suffered multiple fallen trees with this region alone recording nearly 40 that needed dealing with.
The huge influx of water also created problems. Levels on the Titford Canal were very high until we were able to access Rood End culvert and remove debris from its grill that had been washed downstream. Overtopping occurred on the Montgomery and Grand Union canals due to culvert issues but, thankfully, no buildings were affected.
A cautionary tale involving a boat in the region also merits a mention. Firstly, a boat was left in a no mooring zone which, if the mighty River Severn had burst its banks, would have certainly been sunk.
After repeated visits to the boat and numerous unanswered phone calls we finally managed to track down the owner who agreed to us moving the boat to a more appropriate (and permitted) location. Please keep an eye out for weather warnings and abide by canalside signage!
Windblown tree, Shropshire Union Canal, Storm Claudia
Yorkshire & North East
The now familiar impacts – windblown trees, water management challenges – of Storm Claudia were reported across the region but there is one image that probably best highlights just how much rain fell in such a short period. The first picture is of the Don Doors Aqueduct on the New Junction Canal with water levels, below the aqueduct, in the River Don at ‘normal’ levels. The second was taken just after lunchtime on Saturday 15 November!
New Junction Canal
Although excess water will have affected pretty much every winter stoppage site, the extreme impact below is at Lock 5 of the Bank Dole Cut on the Aire & Calder Navigation. So much water went through the site that the stop planks were lifted out of position.
Lock 5 Bank Dole Cut, Storm Claudia
Commission reviewing Boat Licensing Framework delivers its report
The Report from the independent Commission set up to review the legal framework around boat licensing and whether it is appropriate for the canal network’s future is published today (19 November).
Over the past ten months the Commission, chaired by Andrew Cowan, a former senior partner at law firm Devonshires, has undertaken an extensive review, engaging with several thousand individuals and organisations via a public online survey, and then meeting with and receiving further submissions from many representative groups.
Andrew Cowan comments: “We were asked to review, independently of the Trust, the fitness for purpose of the licensing system in the light of widespread dissatisfaction with the way it currently operates, and to make recommendations for change where we consider that to be beneficial for the future management of the canal network.”
David Orr, chair of the Canal & River Trust, comments: “I’d like to thank the Commission for its considerable time, effort and expertise. I’d also like to thank all the boaters, boating organisations and others who took the time to contribute – they greatly assisted the Commission in its review. We will now take some time to consider the report and will provide an initial response as soon as possible.”
Chaired by Andrew Cowan, the Commission also included Penelope Barber, one of the elected boating representatives on the Trust’s Council, and trustee Sir Chris Kelly, a former senior civil servant and former boat owner.
During 2026, we will increase the scope of the Better Boating Plan to tackle more of the tasks that matter most to boaters. This year the focus has included fixing broken paddles, more planned preventative maintenance at locks and movable bridges, and improving grass cutting. In the year ahead this will be expanded with options including an increased focus on addressing lock gate leaks, removing sunken boats, accelerating offside vegetation removal and filling gaps in facility provision.
Matthew Symonds, our head of boating and customer service, said: “We have faced almost unprecedented challenges in the last year in looking after and keeping the network navigable. At the same time, we are facing a long-term decline in our income from government. The additional income from boat licences, alongside growing income from our commercial and fundraising work, will help support the essential works we need to undertake together with the investment in the Better Boating Plan to address more of the things that are most important to boaters.”
Support for vulnerable boaters
We will continue to support boaters struggling to pay their licence fees on a case-by-case basis. This may include arranging flexible payment plans and signposting to relevant services and benefits, for example the Waterways Chaplaincy, local authorities and Citizens Advice.
Following the National Boat Count in March which showed an increase in licence evasion, we carried out a second count in September. This highlighted that there had been an error in the way the worksheet was pulling the data, with some numbers excluded. The actual evasion figure in March was 11.8%, while in September this had risen to 14.1%.
Matthew said: “The current licence evasion rate is starving the canal network of over £5million a year: money that isn’t being used to fund further maintenance. We’re continuing to target those who have chosen not to pay, whilst offering support to those living afloat who can’t afford to pay. For those in the latter category, our welfare team can help access the benefits that you may be entitled to, which often includes covering the licence fee.”
Gold Licences
The Gold Licence charges are being agreed with the Environment Agency and will be announced in due course. The surcharge for boats without a home mooring will be applied to our portion of the fee. The wide beam surcharge will begin to be applied from January 2026.
Maintenance, repair and restoration work this weekend
As we head towards winter our major repair and restoration programme is underway. This means there will be more closures than usual as we replace lock gates, mend sluices and complete a whole range of jobs to prepare the network for next year’s cruising. You can find out where we’ve started work with this link.
Of course, as we enter the more volatile months of winter there’s a higher chance of extreme weather which may also impact navigation.
When this does happen, or we have to unexpectedly repair something, we get notices up on to our website as soon as we can – it’s always best to have a scan while you’re planning your cruise and also just before you set off. You can find out how to get stoppage notification alerts on your smartphone in this article.
Below, you’ll find a list of navigations that have ongoing restrictions, that aren’t part of our winter stoppage programme, that may affect you if you’re planning to get out on the water this weekend:
