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.