Fornham St Martin water level

Name: Fornham St Martin water level (Environment Agency)
Creator: Environment Agency
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

River gauge, River Lark, Suffolk, United Kingdom

Directions

Normal for mid-October

Water level

0.05m Up 0.02 m over the last 24 hours

Measured 18 Oct 2026, 18:30 BST (36 min ago)

History

7 days 1 year Years compared

20252026

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

What this means

Water levels are unremarkable at Fornham St Martin, where the gauge shows 0.05 m.

That puts it 0.01 m below the median of 0.06 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.03 m (+0.02 m).

It is on the way up, by 0.02 m over the past 24 hours. The 30-day range is 0.03 m – 0.05 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: 0.06 m0.01 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date: 0.03 m – 0.16 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range: 0.08 m – 0.39 m
Same day last year: 0.03 m+0.02 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 0.03 m – 0.05 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 0.03 m – 0.44 m
Highest on record: 1.09 mFebruary 10, 2009
Lowest on record: 0.02 mNovember 29, 2011

For anglers and canoeists

This is an ordinary level for the river: most put-ins, beats and weirs behave as they usually do.

Many angling and canoe clubs check gauges like this one before heading out.

About the River Lark

The River Lark crosses the border between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire in England. It is a chalk river and a tributary of the River Great Ouse, and was extended when that river was re-routed as part of drainage improvements. It is thought to have been used for navigation since Roman times, and improvements to its navigability were made in 1638 and in the early 18th century, when locks and staunches were built. Special powers to improve the river from Mildenhall to Bury St Edmunds were granted by statute. The upper terminus was on the northern edge of Bury St Edmunds, but a new dock was opened near the railway station after the Eastern Union Railway opened its line in 1846.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 2.8 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

18 Sun 13° 7° 4.2 mm, 100% Wind 19 km/h

19 Mon 13° 10° 2.1 mm, 100% Wind 10 km/h

20 Tue 14° 11° 12 mm, 71% Wind 17 km/h

21 Wed 14° 7° 15 mm, 64% Wind 31 km/h

22 Thu 10° 4° 1.7 mm, 39% Wind 25 km/h

23 Fri 13° 8° 15 mm, 73% Wind 35 km/h

24 Sat 13° 5° 1.4 mm, 43% Wind 29 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:28 AM Sunset 05:58 PM Daylight 10 hr, 31 min First quarter 51%

Map

Other gauges on the River Lark

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
SicklesmereRiver gauge, River Lark	0.22 m	Low	±0	7.1 km
TempleRiver gauge, River Lark	0.20 m	Very low	±0	11 km
Barton Mills SluiceRiver gauge, River Lark	0.10 m	Very low	±0	14 km
IslehamRiver gauge, River Lark	2.13 m	Normal	±0	22 km
CloptonRiver gauge, River Lark	0.27 m	Normal	+0.01 m	39 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
OusdenRiver gauge, River Kennett	0.22 m	Low	±0	15 km
RattlesdenRiver gauge, Rattlesden River	0.07 m	Normal	±0	15 km
Thetford Coffee Mill SluiceRiver gauge, River Thet	0.51 m	Low	±0	16 km
MelfordRiver gauge, River Thet	0.09 m	Low	±0	16 km
CockfieldRiver gauge, River Brett	0.02 m	Low	±0	16 km
Abbey HeathRiver gauge, River Little Ouse	0.09 m	Low	±0	17 km
KnettishallRiver gauge, River Little Ouse	0.04 m	Very low	−0.04 m	17 km

Questions and answers

How does the River Lark at Fornham St Martin compare with last year?

It is 0.02 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.03 m.

What is a normal level for the River Lark at Fornham St Martin in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.06 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.03 m and 0.16 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 0.05 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Fornham St Martin today?

On 18 Oct 2026, 18:30 BST, the water level was 0.05 m. Up 0.02 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Fornham St Martin rising or falling?

Up 0.02 m over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Fornham St Martin normal?

Normal for mid-October. Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Fornham St Martin?

The highest level on record is 1.09 m on February 10, 2009. The lowest is 0.02 m on November 29, 2011.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads

Operator: Environment Agency
Station code: ea:E21107 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 52.27213, 0.70664 (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	0.05 m	2026-10-18 17:30	Provisional

Download

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Fornham St Martin (ea:E21107). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/suffolk/fornham-st-martin

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