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Birstwith water level

River gauge, River Nidd, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Directions

Right now

Low for mid-October

Water level

0.14m Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours

0 1 3 4 Highest onrecord 3.66 m Lowest on record 0.05 m

History

History
0.20.40.6mOct 11Oct 13Oct 14Oct 16Oct 18Bottom of normal range0.20.40.6mOct 11Oct 14Oct 18Bottom of normal range
0.20.40.6mSep 18Sep 25Oct 3Oct 10Oct 18Bottom of normal range0.20.40.6mSep 18Oct 3Oct 18Bottom 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
-0.00.51.0mJanMarMayJulSepNov2026-0.00.51.0mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

The River Nidd at Birstwith is running below normal at 0.14 m.

The median for mid-October is 0.26 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.12 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.18 m, a difference of −0.04 m.

It has dropped 0.01 m over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. In the last month it has stayed between 0.09 m and 0.31 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
0.26 m0.12 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.12 m – 0.61 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.11 m – 2.10 m
Same day last year
0.18 m−0.04 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.09 m – 0.31 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.07 m – 1.20 m
Highest on record
3.66 mOctober 31, 2000
Lowest on record
0.05 mJuly 23, 2013

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 Nidd

River Nidd

The River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in the English county of North Yorkshire. It rises in Nidderdale at Nidd Head Spring on the slopes of Great Whernside. In its first few miles it has been dammed three times, creating Angram Reservoir, Scar House Reservoir and Gouthwaite Reservoir, which attract a total of around 150,000 visitors a year. It joins the River Ouse at Nun Monkton.

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

18 Sun 11° 6° 1.1 mm Wind 21 km/h
19 Mon 14° 7° 1.8 mm, 93% Wind 21 km/h
20 Tue 11° 9° 13 mm, 76% Wind 12 km/h
21 Wed 11° 6° 1.6 mm, 57% Wind 22 km/h
22 Thu 11° 4° 1.2 mm, 57% Wind 22 km/h
23 Fri 8° 3° – Wind 25 km/h
24 Sat 10° 4° 0.5 mm, 67% Wind 35 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:40 AM Sunset 06:05 PM Daylight 10 hr, 24 min First quarter 47%

Map

Other gauges on the River Nidd

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Pateley BridgeRiver gauge, River Nidd 0.14 m Low ±0 8.9 km
GouthwaiteRiver gauge, River Nidd 0.07 m Low +0.01 m 12 km
HunsingoreRiver gauge, River Nidd 0.10 m Low −0.01 m 21 km
Skip BridgeRiver gauge, River Nidd 0.52 m Normal −0.15 m 25 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Burn BridgeRiver gauge, River Crimple 0.04 m Normal −0.01 m 10.0 km
Bishop MonktonRiver gauge, Bishop Monkton Beck 0.16 m Normal ±0 12 km
Gouthwaite ReservoirRiver gauge, Reservoir 8.60 m Low −0.03 m 12 km
RiponRiver gauge, River Laver 0.04 m Very low ±0 13 km
Ripon Birkby NabRiver gauge, River Laver 0.26 m Very low ±0 13 km
Alma WeirRiver gauge, River Skell 0.13 m Normal ±0 14 km
Westwick WeirRiver gauge, River Ure 0.15 m Normal ±0 14 km
Ripon Ure BankRiver gauge, River Ure 0.15 m Normal −0.01 m 15 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Nidd at Birstwith higher than last year?

No, it is 0.04 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.18 m.

What is a normal level for the River Nidd at Birstwith in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.26 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.12 m and 0.61 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 0.14 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Birstwith today?

On 18 Oct 2026, 06:30 BST, the water level was 0.14 m. Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Birstwith rising or falling?

Down 0.01 m over the last 24 hours. Down 0.02 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Birstwith 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 Birstwith?

The highest level on record is 3.66 m on October 31, 2000. The lowest is 0.05 m on July 23, 2013.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:F2106 (Agency page)
Coordinates
54.03816, -1.65029 (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 0.14 m 2026-10-18 05:30 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Birstwith (ea:F2106). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/north-yorkshire/birstwith

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.