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Frenchay water level

River gauge, Bristol Frome, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

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Right now

Low for mid-October

Water level

0.26m Up 0.06 m over the last 24 hours

0 1 2 3 Highest onrecord 3.00 m Lowest on record 0.10 m

History

History
0.30.50.81.0mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 18Oct 19Bottom of normal range0.30.50.81.0mOct 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

At 0.26 m, the Bristol Frome at Frenchay is below normal for mid-October.

The median for mid-October is 0.38 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.12 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.26 m, a difference of +0.01 m.

The water is rising: up 0.06 m over the past 24 hours. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.19 m and 0.36 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
0.38 m0.12 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.25 m – 0.98 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.24 m – 2.10 m
Same day last year
0.26 m+0.01 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.19 m – 0.36 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.16 m – 1.86 m
Highest on record
3.00 mOctober 30, 2000
Lowest on record
0.10 mMay 7, 1984

On the river at Frenchay

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

18 Sun 13° 5° 0.3 mm, 21% Wind 19 km/h
19 Mon 14° 8° 5.1 mm, 90% Wind 16 km/h
20 Tue 11° 6° 2.1 mm, 82% Wind 8 km/h
21 Wed 13° 6° 4.5 mm, 50% Wind 25 km/h
22 Thu 14° 6° 1.6 mm, 70% Wind 17 km/h
23 Fri 10° 7° 18 mm, 82% Wind 30 km/h
24 Sat 10° 6° 2.7 mm, 60% Wind 25 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:41 AM Sunset 06:11 PM Daylight 10 hr, 30 min First quarter 58%

Map

Other gauges on the Bristol Frome

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
EastvilleRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 7.52 m Normal ±0 3.8 km
Frampton CotterellRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 0.04 m Low +0.02 m 5.8 km
Bristol Harbour Passage StreetRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 6.15 m Very low −0.01 m 6.1 km
Tubbs BottomRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 0.30 m Normal +0.32 m 7.0 km
Chipping SodburyRiver gauge, Bristol Frome 0.34 m Lowest on record +0.01 m 11 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Bradley BridgeRiver gauge, Bradley Brook 0.16 m Normal +0.19 m 3.3 km
Filton Southmead RoadRiver gauge, River Trym 0.01 m Normal ±0 4.6 km
Bristol Netham LockRiver gauge, River Avon 6.09 m Normal ±0 5.0 km
Netham WeirRiver gauge, River Avon 0.26 m Normal +0.02 m 5.1 km
Cribbs Causeway ReservoirRiver gauge 42.57 m Normal +0.02 m 6.8 km
BrislingtonRiver gauge, Brislington Brook 0.04 m Very low ±0 7.1 km

Questions and answers

Is the Bristol Frome at Frenchay higher than last year?

Yes, it is 0.01 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.26 m.

What is a normal level for the Bristol Frome at Frenchay in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.38 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.25 m and 0.98 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 0.26 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Frenchay today?

On 19 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST, the water level was 0.26 m. Up 0.06 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Frenchay rising or falling?

Up 0.06 m over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Frenchay normal?

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 Frenchay?

The highest level on record is 3.00 m on October 30, 2000. The lowest is 0.10 m on May 7, 1984.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:53134 (Agency page)
Coordinates
51.49259, -2.52381 (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 0.26 m 2026-10-19 11:00 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Frenchay (ea:53134). Accessed October 19, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/gloucestershire/frenchay

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.