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Little Puddle water level

River gauge, River Piddle, Dorset, United Kingdom

Directions

Right now

Very low for mid-October

Water level

0.06m Steady over the last 24 hours

0.0 0.3 0.5 0.8 Highest onrecord 0.79 m Lowest on record 0.00 m

History

History
0.080.100.13mOct 16Oct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.080.100.13mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.20.40.6mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.20.40.6mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.20.40.6mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.20.40.6mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

At 0.06 m, the River Piddle at Little Puddle is far below normal for mid-October.

The median for mid-October is 0.09 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.02 m below typical. A year ago it stood at 0.06 m as well. The lowest reading on record is 0.00 m (October 14, 2003).

It has barely moved over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.06 m and 0.07 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
0.09 m0.02 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.07 m – 0.13 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.07 m – 0.38 m
Same day last year
0.06 m0.00 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.06 m – 0.07 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.06 m – 0.74 m
Highest on record
0.79 mDecember 12, 2000
Lowest on record
0.00 mOctober 14, 2003

On the river at Little Puddle

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 Piddle

River Piddle

The River Piddle or Trent or North River is a small rural Dorset river which rises in the Dorset Downs and flows into Poole Harbour near Wareham.

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

17 Sat 13° 6° – Wind 20 km/h
18 Sun 13° 6° 0.8 mm Wind 21 km/h
19 Mon 13° 8° 0.6 mm, 69% Wind 25 km/h
20 Tue 13° 8° 7.0 mm, 69% Wind 12 km/h
21 Wed 15° 8° 2.0 mm, 75% Wind 30 km/h
22 Thu 14° 6° 4.7 mm, 86% Wind 21 km/h
23 Fri 12° 8° 32 mm, 88% Wind 39 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:36 AM Sunset 06:15 PM Daylight 10 hr, 39 min First quarter 44%

Map

Other gauges on the River Piddle

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
South HouseRiver gauge, River Piddle 0.09 m Very low ±0 2.8 km
Puddletown Riverside CourtRiver gauge, River Piddle 0.05 m Normal ±0 4.2 km
Puddletown North BrookRiver gauge, River Piddle 0.12 m Normal −0.01 m 4.2 km
BriantspuddleRiver gauge, River Piddle 0.17 m Low ±0 11 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Ridge WayGroundwater well 56.85 m Very low ±0 2.2 km
Piddletrenthide FasRiver gauge 0.17 m Normal ±0 3.6 km
Doles AshGroundwater well 113.75 m Low −0.01 m 4.4 km
StinsfordRiver gauge, River Frome 0.03 m Lowest on record ±0 5.8 km
Louds MillRiver gauge, River Frome 0.07 m Low ±0 6.2 km
Dewlish Woodsdown CrossRiver gauge, Piddle Brook 0.05 m Normal ±0 6.8 km
Dickley DownGroundwater well 151.69 m Lowest on record −0.02 m 8.1 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Piddle at Little Puddle higher than last year?

It is about the same as on this day last year, when the reading was 0.06 m.

What is a normal level for the River Piddle at Little Puddle in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.09 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.07 m and 0.13 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 0.06 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Little Puddle today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 22:30 BST, the water level was 0.06 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Little Puddle rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Little Puddle normal?

Very 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 Little Puddle?

The highest level on record is 0.79 m on December 12, 2000. The lowest is 0.00 m on October 14, 2003.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:44220 (Agency page)
Coordinates
50.76710, -2.40075 (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 0.06 m 2026-10-17 21:30 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Little Puddle (ea:44220). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/dorset/little-puddle

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.