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Dotton water level

River gauge, River Otter, Devon, United Kingdom

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Right now

Very low for mid-October

Water level

0.22m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 3 4 Highest onrecord 3.62 m Lowest on record 0.15 m

History

History
0.20.30.40.5mOct 10Oct 12Oct 14Oct 16Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.20.30.40.5mOct 10Oct 14Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.20.30.40.5mSep 17Sep 25Oct 2Oct 10Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.20.30.40.5mSep 17Oct 2Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.51.0mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.51.0mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.51.0mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.51.0mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

Water level Normal range (10–90 %) Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range

What this means

At 0.22 m, the River Otter at Dotton is far below normal for mid-October.

The median for mid-October is 0.27 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.04 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.23 m, a difference of −0.01 m. The lowest reading on record is 0.15 m (July 26, 1990).

It has barely moved over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.20 m and 0.30 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
0.27 m0.04 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.23 m – 0.48 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.22 m – 1.40 m
Same day last year
0.23 m−0.01 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.20 m – 0.30 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.20 m – 1.26 m
Highest on record
3.62 mJuly 11, 1968
Lowest on record
0.15 mJuly 26, 1990

On the river at Dotton

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

River Otter, Devon

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.

Read more on Wikipedia

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.

17 Sat 14° 6° – Wind 18 km/h
18 Sun 13° 5° – Wind 19 km/h
19 Mon 14° 8° 1.9 mm, 69% Wind 22 km/h
20 Tue 13° 9° 4.6 mm, 52% Wind 16 km/h
21 Wed 15° 6° 3.2 mm, 47% Wind 32 km/h
22 Thu 15° 5° 4.8 mm, 78% Wind 22 km/h
23 Fri 13° 8° 39 mm, 84% Wind 46 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:39 AM Sunset 06:19 PM Daylight 10 hr, 40 min First quarter 43%

Map

Other gauges on the River Otter

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Budleigh South Farm Road White BridgeRiver gauge, River Otter 0.86 m No reference yet ±0 5.5 km
Budleigh South Farm Road West BridgeRiver gauge, River Otter 0.30 m No reference yet −0.42 m 5.7 km
Fenny BridgesRiver gauge, River Otter 0.19 m Very low −0.01 m 11 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Otterton Fore Street GibbonholeRiver gauge, Otterton Brook −0.01 m Lowest on record ±0 3.1 km
Sidmouth Higher Woolbrook RoadRiver gauge, Wool Brook 0.09 m Lowest on record ±0 3.2 km
SidmouthRiver gauge, River Sid 0.05 m Normal ±0 4.2 km
East Budleigh Brookfield RoadRiver gauge, Budleigh Brook 0.64 m Normal ±0 4.4 km
SidburyRiver gauge, River Sid 0.45 m Very high ±0 6.2 km
Budleigh Salterton Station RoadRiver gauge, Knowle Stream 0.10 m Lowest on record ±0 6.9 km
FairmileRiver gauge, River Tale 0.34 m Normal −0.01 m 8.8 km
Rockbeare BridgeRiver gauge, Ford Stream 0.41 m Normal ±0 9.4 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Otter at Dotton higher than last year?

No, it is 0.01 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.23 m.

What is a normal level for the River Otter at Dotton in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.27 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.23 m and 0.48 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 0.22 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Dotton today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 20:15 BST, the water level was 0.22 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Dotton rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Steady over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Dotton 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 Dotton?

The highest level on record is 3.62 m on July 11, 1968. The lowest is 0.15 m on July 26, 1990.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:45212 (Agency page)
Coordinates
50.68833, -3.29426 (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

ParameterLast valueTime (UTC)Quality
Water level 0.22 m 2026-10-17 19:15 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Dotton (ea:45212). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/devon/dotton

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.