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Umberleigh water level

River gauge, River Taw, Devon, United Kingdom

Directions

Right now

Low for mid-October

Water level

0.29m Down 0.06 m over the last 24 hours

0 3 5 Highest onrecord 5.00 m Lowest on record 0.04 m

History

History
0.51.0mOct 10Oct 12Oct 14Oct 15Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.51.0mOct 10Oct 14Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.51.0mSep 17Sep 25Oct 2Oct 10Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.51.0mSep 17Oct 2Oct 17Bottom of normal range
-0123mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range-0123mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
-012mJanMarMayJulSepNov2026-012mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

The River Taw at Umberleigh is running below normal at 0.29 m.

The median for mid-October is 0.47 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.18 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.30 m, a difference of −0.01 m.

It has dropped 0.06 m over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. In the last month it has stayed between 0.16 m and 0.35 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
0.47 m0.18 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.29 m – 1.04 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.18 m – 2.80 m
Same day last year
0.30 m−0.01 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.16 m – 0.35 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.12 m – 1.94 m
Highest on record
5.00 mOctober 30, 2000
Lowest on record
0.04 mAugust 28, 1976

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

17 Sat 13° 2° – Wind 11 km/h
18 Sun 13° 3° – Wind 15 km/h
19 Mon 12° 8° 3.9 mm, 48% Wind 20 km/h
20 Tue 13° 5° 2.4 mm, 59% Wind 18 km/h
21 Wed 10° 6° 16 mm, 65% Wind 48 km/h
22 Thu 13° 8° 4.4 mm, 67% Wind 24 km/h
23 Fri 13° 7° 12 mm, 82% Wind 39 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:43 AM Sunset 06:21 PM Daylight 10 hr, 39 min First quarter 41%

Map

Other gauges on the River Taw

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Newnham BridgeRiver gauge, River Taw 0.20 m Very low ±0 8.2 km
BarnstapleTidal gauge, River Taw 1.02 m No reference yet −0.03 m 11 km
Taw BridgeRiver gauge, River Taw 0.12 m Very low +0.01 m 18 km
SticklepathRiver gauge, River Taw 0.17 m Normal −0.02 m 29 km
Sticklepath GSRiver gauge, River Taw 0.08 m Normal −0.01 m 30 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
WoodleighRiver gauge, River Mole 0.42 m Low −0.03 m 5.8 km
SwimbridgeRiver gauge, Landkey Brook 0.05 m Low ±0 6.5 km
Landkey Newland Tanners RoadRiver gauge, Halford Stream 0.16 m Lowest on record −0.01 m 7.4 km
Coney GutRiver gauge 0.48 m Normal ±0 9.5 km
Portmarsh LaneRiver gauge, Coney Gut 0.26 m Normal −0.01 m 10.0 km
Mole MillsRiver gauge, River Mole 0.06 m Very low ±0 12 km
Collard BridgeRiver gauge, River Yeo 0.38 m Normal ±0 12 km
TorringtonRiver gauge, River Torridge 0.68 m Normal +0.14 m 12 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Taw at Umberleigh higher than last year?

No, it is 0.01 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.30 m.

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

The median for mid-October is 0.47 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.29 m and 1.04 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 0.29 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Umberleigh today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 15:15 BST, the water level was 0.29 m. Down 0.06 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Umberleigh rising or falling?

Down 0.06 m over the last 24 hours. Up 0.04 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Umberleigh 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 Umberleigh?

The highest level on record is 5.00 m on October 30, 2000. The lowest is 0.04 m on August 28, 1976.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:50140 (Agency page)
Coordinates
50.99542, -3.98509 (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 0.29 m 2026-10-17 14:15 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Umberleigh (ea:50140). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/devon/umberleigh

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.