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Chipping Sodbury water level

River gauge, Bristol Frome, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

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Right now

Lower than ever recorded here

Water level

0.34m Steady over the last 24 hours

1 2 Highest onrecord 2.38 m Lowest on record 0.34 m

History

History
0.40.60.8mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 18Oct 19Bottom of normal range0.40.60.8mOct 16Oct 17Oct 19Bottom of normal range
12mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range12mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.51.01.5mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.51.01.5mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

The Bristol Frome at Chipping Sodbury is running at a record low at 0.34 m.

No reading on record has been lower: the old record low was 0.34 m, from September 27, 2009. That puts it 0.10 m below the median of 0.43 m for mid-October, based on 20 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.36 m (−0.03 m).

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. In the last month it has stayed between 0.33 m and 0.35 m.

Autumn rain usually starts to lift rivers again after the summer low.

Compared with the highest and lowest levels the agency has recorded at this gauge. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date
0.43 m0.10 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.36 m – 0.81 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (20 years of records)
Normal range
0.37 m – 2.10 m
Same day last year
0.36 m−0.03 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.33 m – 0.35 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.32 m – 1.74 m
Highest on record
2.38 mNovember 24, 2024
Lowest on record
0.34 mSeptember 27, 2009
Lowest on record
0.00 m below the lowest level on record

Fishing and paddling

At low levels, many rivers become a walk-and-paddle trip. Fish hold in deeper pools and spook easily.

Flood alerts and warnings come from the Environment Agency.

About the Bristol Frome

River Frome, Bristol

The Frome, historically the Froom, is a river that rises in Dodington Park, South Gloucestershire and flows southwesterly through Bristol to join the river Avon. It is approximately 20 miles (32 km) long, and the mean flow at Frenchay is 60 cubic feet per second (1.7 m3/s). The name Frome is shared with several other rivers in South West England and means 'fair, fine, brisk'. The river is known locally in east Bristol as the Danny.

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: 7.0 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

18 Sun 12° 4° 0.1 mm, 21% Wind 22 km/h
19 Mon 14° 7° 5.8 mm, 90% Wind 19 km/h
20 Tue 11° 5° 2.7 mm, 82% Wind 9 km/h
21 Wed 13° 4° 6.3 mm, 50% Wind 29 km/h
22 Thu 13° 5° 1.7 mm, 70% Wind 18 km/h
23 Fri 9° 5° 20 mm, 82% Wind 34 km/h
24 Sat 10° 4° 1.8 mm, 60% Wind 27 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:41 AM Sunset 06:10 PM Daylight 10 hr, 29 min First quarter 62%

Map

Other gauges on the Bristol Frome

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Tubbs BottomRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 0.08 m Low +0.10 m 5.5 km
Frampton CotterellRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 0.03 m Very low +0.01 m 6.6 km
FrenchayRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 0.33 m Normal +0.14 m 11 km
EastvilleRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 7.60 m Normal +0.09 m 15 km
Bristol Harbour Passage StreetRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 6.15 m Very low −0.01 m 17 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
West KingtonRiver gauge, By Brook −0.01 m Lowest on record ±0 9.1 km
Bradley BridgeRiver gauge, Bradley Brook 0.04 m Normal +0.07 m 9.6 km
WickRiver gauge, River Boyd 0.12 m Normal +0.01 m 10 km
BittonRiver gauge, River Boyd 0.10 m Very low −0.03 m 14 km
Filton Southmead RoadRiver gauge, River Trym 0.02 m Normal ±0 15 km
Bristol Netham LockRiver gauge, River Avon 6.09 m Normal −0.01 m 15 km

Questions and answers

How does the Bristol Frome at Chipping Sodbury compare with last year?

It is 0.03 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.36 m.

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 0.34 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Chipping Sodbury today?

On 19 Oct 2026, 22:15 BST, the water level was 0.34 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Chipping Sodbury rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Chipping Sodbury normal?

Lower than ever recorded here. Compared with the highest and lowest levels the agency has recorded at this gauge.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Chipping Sodbury?

The highest level on record is 2.38 m on November 24, 2024. The lowest is 0.34 m on September 27, 2009.

How often is this data updated?

The Environment Agency publishes a new reading every 15 minutes. This page refreshes within minutes of each update.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:53192 (Agency page)
Coordinates
51.54206, -2.38595 (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 0.34 m 2026-10-19 21:15 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Chipping Sodbury (ea:53192). Accessed October 19, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/gloucestershire/chipping-sodbury

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.