Stinsford water level
River gauge, River Frome, Dorset, United Kingdom
Right now
Lower than ever recorded here
Water level
History
20252026
What this means
At 0.03 m, the River Frome at Stinsford is at a record low.
It has now dropped past the published record low of 0.05 m (October 17, 2011). That puts it 0.10 m below the median of 0.13 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.06 m (−0.02 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 0.03 m and 0.04 m.
Autumn rain usually starts to lift rivers again after the summer low.
Compared with the highest and lowest levels the agency has recorded at this gauge. How to read levels
Key numbers
- Median for this date
- 0.13 m0.10 m below the median for this date
- Normal for this date
- 0.06 m – 0.31 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
- Normal range
- 0.10 m – 0.50 m
- Same day last year
- 0.06 m−0.02 m
- Lowest and highest in 30 days
- 0.03 m – 0.04 m
- Lowest and highest in 12 months
- 0.03 m – 1.01 m
- Highest on record
- 1.24 mJanuary 27, 2026
- Lowest on record
- 0.05 mOctober 17, 2011
- Lowest on record
- 0.02 m below the lowest level on record
On the river at Stinsford
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 Frome
The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles (48 km) long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.
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.
Forecast: Open-Meteo
Map
Other gauges on the River Frome
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louds MillRiver gauge, River Frome | 0.07 m | Low | ±0 | 0.5 km |
| Maiden NewtonRiver gauge, River Frome | 0.19 m | Low | ±0 | 13 km |
| East StokeRiver gauge, River Frome | 0.53 m | Very low | −0.01 m | 16 km |
| Bristol Wade StreetRiver gauge, River Frome | 5.97 m | No reference yet | −0.03 m | 84 km |
Nearby gauges
| Gauge | Level | Compared with normal | 24 hours | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridge WayGroundwater well | 56.85 m | Very low | ±0 | 3.7 km |
| Bank BarrowGroundwater well | 44.90 m | Low | −0.01 m | 5.6 km |
| Ashton FarmGroundwater well | 63.68 m | Lowest on record | −0.01 m | 5.7 km |
| Little PuddleRiver gauge, River Piddle | 0.06 m | Very low | ±0 | 5.8 km |
| Puddletown Riverside CourtRiver gauge, River Piddle | 0.05 m | Normal | ±0 | 5.9 km |
| Puddletown North BrookRiver gauge, River Piddle | 0.12 m | Normal | −0.01 m | 6.0 km |
| Upwey CulvertRiver gauge, River Wey | −0.02 m | Lowest on record | ±0 | 7.5 km |
| UpweyRiver gauge, River Wey | 0.13 m | Normal | +0.02 m | 7.5 km |
Questions and answers
How does the River Frome at Stinsford compare with last year?
It is 0.02 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.06 m.
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 0.03 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.
What is the water level of Stinsford today?
On 18 Oct 2026, 04:15 BST, the water level was 0.03 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.
Is Stinsford rising or falling?
Steady over the last 24 hours. Steady over the last 7 days.
Is the level of Stinsford normal?
Lower than ever recorded here. Compared with the highest and lowest levels the agency has recorded at this gauge.
What is the highest water level ever recorded at Stinsford?
The highest level on record is 1.24 m on January 27, 2026. The lowest is 0.05 m on October 17, 2011.
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:44217(Agency page)- Coordinates
50.71564, -2.40921(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 | 0.03 m | 2026-10-18 03:15 | 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: Stinsford (ea:44217). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/dorset/stinsford
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