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Needham water level

River gauge, River Waveney, Norfolk, United Kingdom

Directions

Below the normal range

Water level

0.21m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 2 Highest onrecord 1.81 m Lowest on record 0.08 m

History

0.220.24mOct 10Oct 12Oct 13Oct 15Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.220.24mOct 10Oct 13Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.220.240.26mSep 17Sep 24Oct 2Oct 9Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.220.240.26mSep 17Oct 2Oct 17Bottom of normal range
Water level Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range

What this means

At 0.21 m, the River Waveney at Needham is below normal.

The usual range here runs from 0.22 m to 0.85 m.

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 0.21 m and 0.26 m.

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

Compared with the normal range the agency publishes for this gauge. How to read levels

Key numbers

Normal range
0.22 m – 0.85 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.21 m – 0.26 m
Highest on record
1.81 mDecember 24, 2020
Lowest on record
0.08 mApril 25, 1982

On the river at Needham

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.

About the River Waveney

River Waveney

The River Waveney is a river which forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England, for much of its length within The Broads. The earliest attestation of the name is from 1275, Wahenhe, from *wagen + ea, meaning the river by a quagmire.

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

17 Sat 13° 8° 0.8 mm, 55% Wind 22 km/h
18 Sun 14° 9° 2.2 mm, 67% Wind 25 km/h
19 Mon 14° 10° 3.6 mm, 60% Wind 15 km/h
20 Tue 15° 12° 1.1 mm, 36% Wind 19 km/h
21 Wed 14° 8° 5.0 mm, 37% Wind 23 km/h
22 Thu 12° 7° 2.9 mm, 27% Wind 41 km/h
23 Fri 12° 6° 2.9 mm, 52% Wind 37 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:24 AM Sunset 05:58 PM Daylight 10 hr, 34 min First quarter 38%

Map

Other gauges on the River Waveney

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
BillingfordRiver gauge, River Waveney 0.13 m Low +0.02 m 6.6 km
DissRiver gauge, River Waveney 0.26 m Normal ±0 12 km
Beccles QuayTidal gauge, River Waveney 0.40 m Normal +0.03 m 22 km
HaddiscoeTidal gauge, River Waveney 0.19 m Normal −0.03 m 29 km
Burgh St PeterTidal gauge, River Waveney 0.40 m Normal +0.02 m 29 km
Oulton BroadRiver gauge, River Waveney 0.31 m Normal +0.03 m 31 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
HuntingfieldRiver gauge, Huntingfield Watercourse 0.99 m Normal +0.01 m 13 km
SibtonRiver gauge, River Yox 0.23 m Low ±0 17 km
FramlinghamRiver gauge, River Ore −0.07 m Low −0.01 m 18 km
DebenhamRiver gauge, River Deben 0.20 m Normal −0.01 m 18 km
ShoteshamRiver gauge, River Tas 0.16 m Low ±0 18 km
BramfieldRiver gauge, Bramfield Watercourse 0.18 m Normal ±0 19 km
BrandestonRiver gauge, River Deben 0.27 m Normal ±0 21 km
QuidenhamRiver gauge, River Whittle 0.07 m Normal ±0 21 km

Questions and answers

What is the typical range for the River Waveney at Needham?

The Environment Agency gives a typical range of 0.22 m to 0.85 m for this gauge.

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 0.21 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Needham today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 09:15 BST, the water level was 0.21 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Needham rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Down 0.04 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Needham normal?

Below the normal range. Compared with the normal range the agency publishes for this gauge.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Needham?

The highest level on record is 1.81 m on December 24, 2020. The lowest is 0.08 m on April 25, 1982.

How often is this data updated?

The Environment Agency publishes a new reading every 15 minutes. This page refreshes within minutes of each update.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:E23223 (Agency page)
Coordinates
52.38207, 1.27229 (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 0.21 m 2026-10-17 08:15 Provisional

Download

Embed this gauge

Add a live card for this gauge to your website. It updates on its own and links back here.

How to cite

Environment Agency: Needham (ea:E23223). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/norfolk/needham

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