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Newnham Bridge water level

River gauge, River Taw, Devon, United Kingdom

Directions

Right now

Very low for mid-October

Water level

0.20m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 3 4 Highest onrecord 4.00 m Lowest on record 0.15 m

History

History
0.20.40.6mOct 10Oct 12Oct 14Oct 16Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.20.40.6mOct 10Oct 14Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.20.40.6mSep 17Sep 25Oct 2Oct 10Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.20.40.6mSep 17Oct 2Oct 17Bottom of normal range
-012mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range-012mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
12mJanMarMayJulSepNov202612mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

The River Taw at Newnham Bridge is running far below normal at 0.20 m.

The median for mid-October is 0.36 m, based on 20 years of readings, so the river level is 0.16 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.28 m, a difference of −0.08 m. The lowest reading on record is 0.15 m (October 22, 2003).

It has barely moved over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. In the last month it has stayed between 0.18 m and 0.24 m.

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

Compared with 20 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date
0.36 m0.16 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.26 m – 0.74 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (20 years of records)
Normal range
0.21 m – 2.50 m
Same day last year
0.28 m−0.08 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.18 m – 0.24 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.16 m – 2.08 m
Highest on record
4.00 mOctober 30, 2000
Lowest on record
0.15 mOctober 22, 2003

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 River Taw

River Taw

The River Taw in England rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor, crosses North Devon and at the town of Barnstaple, formerly a significant port, empties into Barnstaple Bay in the Bristol Channel, having formed a large estuary of wide meanders which at its western end is the estuary of the River Torridge.

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

17 Sat 14° 2° – Wind 13 km/h
18 Sun 12° 2° – Wind 16 km/h
19 Mon 13° 8° 1.3 mm, 69% Wind 22 km/h
20 Tue 12° 8° 1.2 mm, 50% Wind 13 km/h
21 Wed 12° 3° 3.0 mm, 69% Wind 29 km/h
22 Thu 13° 7° 4.0 mm, 87% Wind 18 km/h
23 Fri 12° 9° 30 mm, 95% Wind 48 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:42 AM Sunset 06:21 PM Daylight 10 hr, 39 min First quarter 43%

Map

Other gauges on the River Taw

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
UmberleighRiver gauge, River Taw 0.29 m Low −0.02 m 8.2 km
Taw BridgeRiver gauge, River Taw 0.12 m Very low ±0 11 km
BarnstapleTidal gauge, River Taw 1.60 m No reference yet −1.07 m 19 km
SticklepathRiver gauge, River Taw 0.18 m Normal −0.01 m 22 km
Sticklepath GSRiver gauge, River Taw 0.08 m Normal −0.01 m 24 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
WoodleighRiver gauge, River Mole 0.41 m Low −0.01 m 3.7 km
ChulmleighRiver gauge, Little Dart River 0.39 m Low +0.02 m 4.7 km
Mole MillsRiver gauge, River Mole 0.06 m Very low ±0 10 km
LapfordRiver gauge, River Yeo 0.36 m Very low ±0 11 km
DoltonRiver gauge, River Torridge 0.22 m Normal −0.18 m 13 km
SwimbridgeRiver gauge, Landkey Brook 0.05 m Low ±0 13 km
Landkey Newland Tanners RoadRiver gauge, Halford Stream 0.16 m Lowest on record ±0 15 km
North MoltonRiver gauge, River Mole 0.24 m Normal +0.01 m 15 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Taw at Newnham Bridge higher than last year?

No, it is 0.08 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.28 m.

What is a normal level for the River Taw at Newnham Bridge in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.36 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.26 m and 0.74 m, based on 20 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 0.20 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Newnham Bridge today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 22:15 BST, the water level was 0.20 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Newnham Bridge rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Steady over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Newnham Bridge normal?

Very low for mid-October. Compared with 20 years of daily readings for this time of year.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Newnham Bridge?

The highest level on record is 4.00 m on October 30, 2000. The lowest is 0.15 m on October 22, 2003.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:50132 (Agency page)
Coordinates
50.93990, -3.90758 (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 0.20 m 2026-10-17 21:15 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Newnham Bridge (ea:50132). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/devon/newnham-bridge

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.