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The Welford Arm from Welford Lock 1

Type: Navigation Restriction

Waterway(s): Welford Arm (Leicester Line)

From: 7 November 2025, 8:23am

To: On-going

Region: East Midlands

Reason: Low Water Levels

Subject to review on: 11 December 2025

Location

Closest waterwayWelford Arm (Leicester Line)
Starts atLock 1, Welford Lock
Ends atWater Point, Welford Yard

Descriptions

Update 14 November 2025, 8:04am

Welford Lock will be open from 10am this morning for a window of passage over the weekend and is planned to close at 2pm on Sunday 16th November. We will continue to monitor the situation in light of the predicted rainfall and will update this notice if the situation changes.

Update 13 November 2025, 9:34am

Recent rainfall means that we have sufficient water to temporarily open Welford lock this weekend.

Welford lock will open from 10:00am on Friday, 14th November until 2:00pm on Sunday, 16th November.

We will continue to monitor the situation and hope to offer further windows of passage should water levels allow.

Original 6 November 2025, 8:28am

Following the summer drought Welford, Sulby and Naseby reservoirs no longer have enough reservoir storage to feed into the Welford Arm. They must now be rested with the hope that they will start to refill over the winter months and the Welford Arm, from Welford Lock 1, will be closed from 3pm on Friday 7th November as we are currently unable to maintain sufficient water levels for navigation without the reservoir feed. When there is sufficient inflow into the Arm from other sources (i.e. local streams) to sustain navigation, it will be reopened.

We will continue to monitor the situation and will update this notice by Thursday 11th December or sooner if the situation changes.

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