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Farnham water level

River gauge, River Alde, Suffolk, United Kingdom

Directions

Right now

Very low for mid-October

Water level

0.09m Steady over the last 24 hours

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 Highest onrecord 1.46 m Lowest on record 0.06 m

History

History
0.10.2mOct 10Oct 11Oct 13Oct 15Oct 17Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.10.2mOct 10Oct 13Oct 17Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.10.2mSep 17Sep 24Oct 2Oct 9Oct 17Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.10.2mSep 17Oct 2Oct 17Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.20.4mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.20.4mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.20.4mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.20.4mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

At 0.09 m, the River Alde at Farnham is far below normal for mid-October.

That puts it 0.04 m below the median of 0.13 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.11 m (−0.02 m). The lowest reading on record is 0.06 m (August 14, 1990).

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.08 m and 0.10 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
0.13 m0.04 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.10 m – 0.18 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.10 m – 0.27 m
Same day last year
0.11 m−0.02 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.08 m – 0.10 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.08 m – 0.46 m
Highest on record
1.46 mOctober 20, 2023
Lowest on record
0.06 mAugust 14, 1990

On the river at Farnham

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.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 0.8 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

17 Sat 13° 8° 0.2 mm, 57% Wind 25 km/h
18 Sun 14° 8° 5.8 mm, 64% Wind 23 km/h
19 Mon 13° 10° 5.2 mm, 73% Wind 15 km/h
20 Tue 15° 12° 0.8 mm, 37% Wind 18 km/h
21 Wed 14° 8° 3.0 mm, 41% Wind 25 km/h
22 Thu 12° 7° 1.9 mm, 31% Wind 41 km/h
23 Fri 12° 6° 3.5 mm, 51% Wind 39 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:23 AM Sunset 05:58 PM Daylight 10 hr, 35 min First quarter 37%

Map

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
SaxmundhamRiver gauge, River Fromus 1.13 m Normal +0.02 m 4.3 km
FramlinghamRiver gauge, River Ore −0.07 m Low ±0 8.7 km
SibtonRiver gauge, River Yox 0.23 m Low ±0 9.8 km
BrandestonRiver gauge, River Deben 0.27 m Normal ±0 12 km
BramfieldRiver gauge, Bramfield Watercourse 0.18 m Normal ±0 14 km
HuntingfieldRiver gauge, Huntingfield Watercourse 0.97 m Normal −0.02 m 15 km
CloptonRiver gauge, River Lark 0.27 m Normal ±0 16 km
DebenhamRiver gauge, River Deben 0.20 m Normal −0.01 m 19 km

Questions and answers

How does the River Alde at Farnham compare with last year?

It is 0.02 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.11 m.

What is a normal level for the River Alde at Farnham in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.13 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.10 m and 0.18 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 0.09 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Farnham today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 04:45 BST, the water level was 0.09 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Farnham rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Down 0.01 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Farnham 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 Farnham?

The highest level on record is 1.46 m on October 20, 2023. The lowest is 0.06 m on August 14, 1990.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:E23151 (Agency page)
Coordinates
52.18860, 1.45122 (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 0.09 m 2026-10-17 03:45 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Farnham (ea:E23151). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/suffolk/farnham

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.