Fenny Bridges water level
River gauge, River Otter, Devon, United Kingdom
Right now
Very low for mid-October
Water level
History
20252026
What this means
At 0.19 m, the River Otter at Fenny Bridges is far below normal for mid-October.
That puts it 0.05 m below the median of 0.24 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.19 m (−0.01 m). The lowest reading on record is 0.12 m (February 27, 1986).
The level is falling, down 0.01 m over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.18 m and 0.28 m.
Autumn rain usually starts to lift rivers again after the summer low.
Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels
Key numbers
- Median for this date
- 0.24 m0.05 m below the median for this date
- Normal for this date
- 0.20 m – 0.42 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
- Normal range
- 0.20 m – 1.00 m
- Same day last year
- 0.19 m−0.01 m
- Lowest and highest in 30 days
- 0.18 m – 0.28 m
- Lowest and highest in 12 months
- 0.18 m – 0.93 m
- Highest on record
- 2.83 mJanuary 27, 2026
- Lowest on record
- 0.12 mFebruary 27, 1986
On the river at Fenny Bridges
Low, clear water makes fish wary, and anglers often do better early and late in the day. For canoeists, shallow riffles mean scraped hulls and the odd portage.
Flood warnings for the area come from the Environment Agency.
About the River Otter
The River Otter is a river that rises in the Blackdown Hills just inside the county of Somerset, England near Otterford, then flows south through East Devon. It enters the English Channel at the western end of Lyme Bay, part of the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Permian and Triassic sandstone aquifer in the Otter Valley is one of Devon's largest groundwater sources, supplying drinking water to 200,000 people.
Text and image from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA.
Weather at the gauge
Rain in the last 3 days: 2.9 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.
Forecast: Open-Meteo
Map
Other gauges on the River Otter
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DottonRiver gauge, River Otter | 0.22 m | Very low | −0.01 m | 11 km |
| Budleigh South Farm Road White BridgeRiver gauge, River Otter | 0.86 m | No reference yet | ±0 | 16 km |
| Budleigh South Farm Road West BridgeRiver gauge, River Otter | 0.64 m | No reference yet | −0.13 m | 16 km |
Nearby gauges
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FairmileRiver gauge, River Tale | 0.34 m | Normal | −0.01 m | 3.0 km |
| HonitonRiver gauge, The Gissage | 0.03 m | Very low | ±0 | 4.9 km |
| HonitonRiver gauge, Glen Stream | 0.00 m | Lowest on record | ±0 | 5.5 km |
| SidburyRiver gauge, River Sid | 0.45 m | Very high | ±0 | 7.4 km |
| Sidmouth Higher Woolbrook RoadRiver gauge, Wool Brook | 0.09 m | Lowest on record | ±0 | 9.1 km |
| Rockbeare BridgeRiver gauge, Ford Stream | 0.41 m | Low | ±0 | 10 km |
| Wilmington Hayne Lane TunnelRiver gauge, Umborne Brook | 0.26 m | Normal | +0.01 m | 10 km |
| AshclystRiver gauge, River Clyst | 0.13 m | Normal | ±0 | 10 km |
Questions and answers
How does the River Otter at Fenny Bridges compare with last year?
It is 0.01 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.19 m.
What is a normal level for the River Otter at Fenny Bridges in mid-October?
The median for mid-October is 0.24 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.20 m and 0.42 m, based on 21 years of records.
Is the river level the same as the depth of the water?
No. The reading is measured from a fixed zero mark at the gauge, so 0.19 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.
What is the water level of Fenny Bridges today?
On 17 Oct 2026, 08:30 BST, the water level was 0.19 m. Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours.
Is Fenny Bridges rising or falling?
Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours. Steady over the last 7 days.
Is the level of Fenny Bridges normal?
Very low for mid-October. Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year.
What is the highest water level ever recorded at Fenny Bridges?
The highest level on record is 2.83 m on January 27, 2026. The lowest is 0.12 m on February 27, 1986.
For specialists
Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
- Operator
- Environment Agency
- Station code
ea:45210(Agency page)- Coordinates
50.78001, -3.25721(WGS84)- Vertical datum
- station datum
- Update interval
- every 15 minutes
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Environment Agency data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
Published series
| Parameter | Last value | Time (UTC) | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water level | 0.19 m | 2026-10-17 07:30 | Provisional |
Download
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How to cite
Environment Agency: Fenny Bridges (ea:45210). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/devon/fenny-bridges
How we check values
Each reading is stored as published. We hold back values that jump faster than physically plausible and show the measurement time with every value.
Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer