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Fenny Bridges water level

River gauge, River Otter, Devon, United Kingdom

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Right now

Very low for mid-October

Water level

0.19m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 2 3 Highest onrecord 2.83 m Lowest on record 0.12 m

History

History
0.20.30.4mOct 10Oct 12Oct 13Oct 15Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.20.30.4mOct 10Oct 13Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.20.30.4mSep 17Sep 24Oct 2Oct 9Oct 17Bottom of normal range0.20.30.4mSep 17Oct 2Oct 17Bottom of normal range
0.30.50.81.0mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range0.30.50.81.0mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
0.30.50.8mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.30.50.8mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

At 0.19 m, the River Otter at Fenny Bridges is far below normal for mid-October.

That puts it 0.05 m below the median of 0.24 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.19 m as well. The lowest reading on record is 0.12 m (February 27, 1986).

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 0.18 m and 0.28 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
0.24 m0.05 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.20 m – 0.42 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.20 m – 1.00 m
Same day last year
0.19 m0.00 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.18 m – 0.28 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.18 m – 0.93 m
Highest on record
2.83 mJanuary 27, 2026
Lowest on record
0.12 mFebruary 27, 1986

On the river at Fenny Bridges

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 Otter

River Otter, Devon

The River Otter is a river that rises in the Blackdown Hills just inside the county of Somerset, England near Otterford, then flows south through East Devon. It enters the English Channel at the western end of Lyme Bay, part of the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Permian and Triassic sandstone aquifer in the Otter Valley is one of Devon's largest groundwater sources, supplying drinking water to 200,000 people.

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

17 Sat 13° 4° – Wind 17 km/h
18 Sun 13° 4° 0.1 mm Wind 21 km/h
19 Mon 12° 8° 4.7 mm, 75% Wind 18 km/h
20 Tue 12° 6° 2.7 mm, 63% Wind 15 km/h
21 Wed 12° 5° 6.0 mm, 51% Wind 46 km/h
22 Thu 13° 7° 0.9 mm, 47% Wind 21 km/h
23 Fri 13° 8° 17 mm, 75% Wind 43 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:39 AM Sunset 06:19 PM Daylight 10 hr, 39 min First quarter 39%

Map

Other gauges on the River Otter

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
DottonRiver gauge, River Otter 0.22 m Very low ±0 11 km
Budleigh South Farm Road White BridgeRiver gauge, River Otter 0.86 m No reference yet ±0 16 km
Budleigh South Farm Road West BridgeRiver gauge, River Otter 1.04 m No reference yet +0.28 m 16 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
FairmileRiver gauge, River Tale 0.34 m Normal −0.01 m 3.0 km
HonitonRiver gauge, The Gissage 0.02 m Very low ±0 4.9 km
HonitonRiver gauge, Glen Stream 0.00 m Lowest on record ±0 5.5 km
SidburyRiver gauge, River Sid 0.45 m Very high ±0 7.4 km
Sidmouth Higher Woolbrook RoadRiver gauge, Wool Brook 0.09 m Lowest on record ±0 9.1 km
Rockbeare BridgeRiver gauge, Ford Stream 0.41 m Low ±0 10 km
Wilmington Hayne Lane TunnelRiver gauge, Umborne Brook 0.27 m Normal +0.02 m 10 km
AshclystRiver gauge, River Clyst 0.13 m Normal ±0 10 km

Questions and answers

How does the River Otter at Fenny Bridges compare with last year?

It is about the same as on this day last year, when the reading was 0.19 m.

What is a normal level for the River Otter at Fenny Bridges in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.24 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.20 m and 0.42 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 0.19 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Fenny Bridges today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 11:00 BST, the water level was 0.19 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Fenny Bridges rising or falling?

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

Is the level of Fenny Bridges 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 Fenny Bridges?

The highest level on record is 2.83 m on January 27, 2026. The lowest is 0.12 m on February 27, 1986.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:45210 (Agency page)
Coordinates
50.78001, -3.25721 (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 0.19 m 2026-10-17 10:00 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Fenny Bridges (ea:45210). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/devon/fenny-bridges

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.