Waterway Notices / Navigation Closure South Oxford Canal – From Claydon Top Lock 17 to Aynho Weir Lock 33

Temporary Reopening of Navigation – Claydon Top Lock 17 to Aynho Weir Lock 33 Local team have confirmed from sites that levels between lock 17 to 33 currently remain within a normal operating zone for navigation and this area of canal will remain open at this time. Thanks for helping help us to extend this window for navigation by ensuring gates and paddles were closed after use today. We will monitor levels tomorrow morning and publish a further update tomorrow morning.

The local team have confirmed that levels between lock 17 to 33 currently remain within a normal operating zone for navigation and this area of canal will remain open at this time.

We will monitor levels during the day and publish a further update later this afternoon.

Please note that the excess water levels experienced due to heavy rain fall is slowly receding. Please help us to extend this window for navigation by ensuring gates and paddles are closed after use.

We wish everyone a safe journey.

Temporary Reopening of Navigation – Claydon Top Lock 17 to Aynho Weir Lock 33

Local team have confirmed from sites that levels between lock 17 to 33 currently remain within a normal operating zone for navigation and this area of canal will remain open at this time. Please note that the excess water levels experienced due to heavy rain fall is slowly receding. We will monitor levels during the day and publish a further update later this afternoon.

Please help us to extend this window for navigation by ensuring gates and paddles are closed after use today. The weather forecast is for some rain during this morning Safe journey's

Temporary Reopening of Navigation – Claydon Top Lock 17 to Aynho Weir Lock 33 Local team have confirmed from sites that levels between lock 17 to 33 currently remain within a normal operating zone for navigation and this area of canal will remain open at this time. Thanks for helping help us to extend this window for navigation by ensuring gates and paddles were closed after use today. The weather forecast is for some rain during the day tomorrow We will monitor levels tomorrow morning and publish a further update tomorrow morning.

Temporary Reopening of Navigation – Claydon Top Lock 17 to Aynho Weir Lock 33

Temporary reopening of navigation extended to include: Grants lock 30, Twyford Lock 31, Nell Bridge lock 32 and Aynho Weir lock 33 Locks 30 to 33 open from Sunday 12 noon 25/10/2026 Locks 17 to 29 open now

Local team have confirmed from sites that levels between lock 17 to 29 currently remain within a normal operating zone for navigation and this area of canal will remain open at this time. Levels between locks 30 to 33 are having final preparation undertaken to provide navigation Please help us to extend this window for navigation by ensuring gates and paddles are closed after use. We will monitor levels during the day and publish a further update later this afternoon. Safe journey's

Temporary Reopening of Navigation – Claydon Top Lock 17 to Banbury Lock 29

Local team have confirmed from sites that levels between lock 17 to 29 currently remain within a normal operating zone for navigation and this area of canal will remain open at this time.

Thanks for helping help us to extend this window for navigation by ensuring gates and paddles were closed after use today.

The forecast is for rain this evening

We will monitor levels tomorrow morning and publish a further update tomorrow morning.

Temporary Reopening of Navigation – Claydon Top Lock 17 to Banbury Lock 29

Local team have confirmed from sites that levels between lock 17 to 29 are within a normal operating zone for navigation and this area of canal will remain open at this time. We will continue to monitor levels during the day and post a further levels update later this afternoon. Please help us to extend this window for navigation by ensuring gates and paddles are closed after use. Safe journey's

Temporary Reopening of Navigation – Claydon Top Lock 17 to Banbury Lock 29

Following the recent heavy rainfall, water levels along the canal have increased sufficiently to provide a temporary window of opportunity to reopen navigation between Claydon Top Lock 17 and Banbury Lock 29.

Further rainfall is forecast for Sunday, which we hope will help to support water levels. However, as this reopening is dependent on rainfall rather than recovered reservoir supplies, we have only been able to provide limited advance notice.

Unfortunately, reservoir levels have not yet recovered sufficiently for us to resume feeding the canal from them. We are therefore unable to confirm how long water levels will remain adequate to support navigation, and it may become necessary to close this section again at relatively short notice.

Navigation between Claydon Top Lock 17 and Banbury Lock 29 will reopen by 2pm today.

Our teams will be on site throughout the weekend, actively managing and monitoring water levels as we do everything we reasonably can to maintain navigation for as long as conditions allow. Please ensure that you follow their instructions if they have to give them   We will update this notice at least twice each day over the weekend, with monitoring continuing into next week.

We are also closely monitoring the pounds between Grants Lock 30 and Aynho Weir Lock 33 to determine whether water levels recover sufficiently to allow this section to reopen to navigation. We appreciate customers' patience and understanding while we make the most of this temporary improvement in water levels.

Due to continued low water levels, the closure between Claydon Top Lock 17 and Aynho Weir Lock 33 will remain in place until further notice.

We understand that this extended closure may affect your plans, and we sincerely appreciate your patience, understanding, and cooperation during this challenging period.

Please be assured that we are closely monitoring water levels and remain committed to reopening the navigation as soon as it is safe to do so.

We recognise the importance of restoring passage for our customers and we will  reopen the locks as soon as conditions safely allow.

We will continue to keep the situation under close review and will provide a further update on this notice as soon as additional information becomes available.

Thank you once again for your continued patience, understanding, and support while these restrictions remain in place.

Please be advised, due to the ongoing impact of the drought and continued low water levels, we are not yet in a position to safely reopen the navigation. As a result, the closure between Claydon Top Lock 17 and Aynho Weir Lock 33 will remain in place.

We will continue to closely monitor water levels, weather forecasts, and the wider drought conditions affecting the waterway, and are reviewing the situation regularly.

We understand that this continued closure may be disappointing and we would like to thank you for your patience, understanding, and cooperation during this challenging period.

Please be assured that we are keeping conditions under constant review and will update this notice as soon as there is any significant change or further information to share.

We wanted to provide a brief update regarding the current closure.

We continue to closely monitor water levels, weather forecasts and the wider drought conditions that are affecting the waterway.

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing impact of the drought and continued low water levels, we are not currently in a position to reopen. Protecting the remaining water resources and maintaining the integrity of the navigation remain our priorities while these conditions persist.

We appreciate that this closure may be disappointing and we would like to thank you for your patience and understanding during this challenging period.

We will continue to keep the situation under regular review and will update this notice as soon as there is any significant change or further information to share.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and support.

We wanted to provide a quick update on the current water levels.

Water levels are still low and we will continue to monitor them closely on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we need a substantial amount of rainfall before we are likely to see water levels recover fully.

We understand this may not be the update you were hoping for and we appreciate your patience while we continue to keep a close eye on the situation.

We'll update this notice again as soon as we have any further information to share.

Thank you for your continued understanding and cooperation.

Navigation Closure – South Oxford Canal Claydon Top Lock 17 to Aynho Weir Lock 33 from Friday 7th August 2026 - Last entry into the Claydon flight at 2pm with full closure at all locks by 3pm.

Following our continued monitoring of the exceptionally dry conditions and the impact on our reservoirs, it is now necessary to extend the current navigation restriction between Claydon Top Lock 17 and Claydon Bottom Lock 21 to a Full Navigation Closure between Claydon Top Lock 17 and Aynho Weir Lock 33.

Unfortunately, despite all our operational efforts, as rainfall has remained well below the long-term average, water levels in our feeder reservoirs and other adjoining canal inflow streams are continuing to fall due to canal water demands.

We can now confirm that, from Friday 7th August 2026 from 3pm, the following locks will close to navigation until there is enough rainfall to replenish our reservoirs:

From Friday 7th August 2026, the following arrangements will be in place:

• Last entry into the Claydon Flight: 2pm
• All locks closed and secured: 3pm

The following locks will be closed to navigation on Friday 7th August 2026 from 3pm until water levels recover sufficiently:

• Claydon Flight – Locks 17 to 21
• Elkington's Lock 22
• Varneys Lock 23
• Broadmoor Lock 24
• Cropredy Lock 25
• Slat Mill Lock 26
• Little Bourton Lock 27
• Hardwick Lock 28
• Banbury Lock 29
• Grants Lock 30
• Kings Sutton Lock 31
• Nell Bridge Lock 32
• Aynho Weir Lock 33

We fully appreciate that this will be disappointing news for everyone planning to cruise on this section of the canal. These closures are not decisions we take lightly, but they are essential to protect our increasingly limited water supplies, safeguard the canal's infrastructure and ecology and give the navigation the best opportunity to recover.

We hope that this confirmation allows time for boaters to adjust their plans and relocate as needed.

We intend to provide a limited window for navigation between 10:00am on Wednesday 12th August and 1:00pm on Thursday 13th August. (subject to there being sufficient water available for safe navigation). At the end of this period, all locks will once again be locked and secured.

We will continue to closely monitor conditions and will update this notice fortnightly, or sooner if circumstances change.

While we hope to reopen the canal as quickly as possible, this will depend on sustained rainfall over a number of weeks, rather than a single period of heavy rain.

In the meantime, there may also be exceptional local circumstances that require us to temporarily close other sections of the South Oxford Canal at short notice.

We understand that this continues to be disappointing news and our priority is to reopen the canal to full navigation as soon as possible.

We sincerely appreciate your patience, understanding and continued support during this exceptionally challenging period.

We thank you for your continued support in reducing water use across our network and reporting leaks or concerns via 0303 040 4040 or our Contact Us page.

Our priority remains to reopen the canal to full navigation as soon as conditions allow and we will continue to share updates on this notice as the situation develops.