Swans Barn water level

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

River gauge, River Cole, Warwickshire, United Kingdom

Directions

Normal for mid-October

Water level

0.89m Down 0.10 m over the last 24 hours

Measured 18 Oct 2026, 05:30 BST (43 min ago)

History

7 days 30 days 1 year Years compared

20252026

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

What this means

The River Cole at Swans Barn is at 0.89 m, in the normal range for mid-October.

That puts it 0.03 m above the median of 0.86 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.83 m (+0.06 m).

It has dropped 0.10 m over the past 24 hours. In the last month it has stayed between 0.84 m and 1.19 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: 0.86 m0.03 m above the median for this date
Normal for this date: 0.75 m – 1.22 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range: 0.75 m – 1.90 m
Same day last year: 0.83 m+0.06 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 0.84 m – 1.19 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 0.85 m – 2.05 m
Highest on record: 2.83 mOctober 20, 2023
Lowest on record: 0.72 mOctober 13, 2009

Fishing and paddling

Paddlers and anglers can expect the river much as they know it, though a heavy shower upstream can change that within hours.

Flood alerts and warnings come from the Environment Agency.

About the River Cole

The River Cole is a 25-mile-long (40-kilometre) river in the English Midlands. It rises on the lower slopes of Forhill, one of the south-western ramparts of the Birmingham Plateau, at Red Hill and flows south before flowing largely north-east across the plateau to enter the River Blythe below Coleshill, near Ladywalk, shortly before the Blythe meets the Tame. This then joins the Trent, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. Its source is very near the main watershed of Midland England: tributaries are few and very short except in the lower reaches, so the Cole is only a small stream. The stretch between Shard End and Tyseley formed part of the historic border between Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 3.5 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

18 Sun 12° 5° – Wind 21 km/h

19 Mon 14° 9° 3.1 mm, 88% Wind 19 km/h

20 Tue 12° 7° 9.9 mm, 71% Wind 8 km/h

21 Wed 11° 6° 1.8 mm, 53% Wind 19 km/h

22 Thu 13° 5° 2.0 mm, 47% Wind 15 km/h

23 Fri 9° 6° 17 mm, 69% Wind 26 km/h

24 Sat 10° 4° 0.9 mm, 53% Wind 27 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:38 AM Sunset 06:08 PM Daylight 10 hr, 30 min First quarter 46%

Map

Other gauges on the River Cole

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Bacons EndRiver gauge, River Cole	0.13 m	Low	−0.03 m	3.2 km
Solihull LodgeRiver gauge, River Cole	0.26 m	Normal	−0.01 m	16 km
IngleshamRiver gauge, River Cole	0.07 m	Normal	−0.01 m	93 km
Lower StrattonRiver gauge, River Cole	1.96 m	Normal	−0.01 m	104 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Castle FarmRiver gauge, River Blythe	0.68 m	Normal	−0.01 m	1.7 km
Water OrtonRiver gauge, River Tame	0.22 m	Low	−0.03 m	3.5 km
Lea MarstonRiver gauge, River Tame	0.30 m	Low	−0.02 m	3.8 km
Brookvale RoadRiver gauge, River Tame	0.51 m	Normal	−0.02 m	12 km
HintsRiver gauge, Bourne Brook	1.25 m	High	±0	13 km
TamworthRiver gauge, River Tame	0.86 m	Normal	−0.04 m	14 km
MancetterRiver gauge, River Anker	0.65 m	Normal	−0.08 m	14 km
Calthorpe ParkRiver gauge, River Rea	0.08 m	Very low	−0.01 m	14 km

Questions and answers

How does the River Cole at Swans Barn compare with last year?

It is 0.06 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.83 m.

What is a normal level for the River Cole at Swans Barn in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.86 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.75 m and 1.22 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 0.89 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Swans Barn today?

On 18 Oct 2026, 05:30 BST, the water level was 0.89 m. Down 0.10 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Swans Barn rising or falling?

Down 0.10 m over the last 24 hours. Up 0.02 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Swans Barn 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 Swans Barn?

The highest level on record is 2.83 m on October 20, 2023. The lowest is 0.72 m on October 13, 2009.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads

Operator: Environment Agency
Station code: ea:4896 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 52.50779, -1.70454 (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	0.89 m	2026-10-18 04:30	Provisional

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<iframe src="https://nivelmap.com/embed/3063?lang=en" width="360" height="230" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy" title="Swans Barn water level"></iframe>

How to cite

Environment Agency: Swans Barn (ea:4896). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/warwickshire/swans-barn

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