Our understanding is yes, it does rise to the top before heading back down.
I don't know what the mains pressure is, but one of the first things we did was get welsh water in and they checked it and said the flow was good into the house.
As far as I know the pressure is OK, none of the other technicians have been concerned about it, it seems adequate enough to flow well on the top floor and fill the cylinder as normal.
HOWEVER - the plot thickened this morning - I woke up and went to the kitchen and for the first time in 5 weeks the cold taps were suddenly running at 80/90% power. I left them running for 4/5 mins, no stop in flow. I went the the bathroom next door, the taps worked. I left the tap running and flushed the toilet, the tap slowed to about 30/40% but kept going.
I had to pop out and when I came back, it was still working at this slightly reduced level. So I went around and checked everything that hadn't worked and it was working. 30 mins later, it's all stopped again.....
So this slightly dispels the blockage theory and seems much more a pressure issue, right? I suppose there could still be a faulty PRV somewhere behind a wall, but it seems unlikely it would just randomly start working again?