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0.07

Sydling St Nicholas

Sydling Water
Frome, Piddle, Poole Harbour and Purbeck catchment • Sydling St Nicholas • Dorset • ID: 44216 • Level
(38m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 144 views

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Current Level
0.074 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.075 m
24h Min
0.073 m
Typical Range
0.07 - 0.26
m
Highest Recorded
0.60 m
31 Oct 2021
Since Jan 1992
Current level is 12% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 6h
24 Aug 00:30 ▬ steady 0.074 m
24 Aug 00:15 ▬ steady 0.074 m
24 Aug 00:00 ▬ steady 0.074 m
23 Aug 23:45 ▬ steady 0.074 m
23 Aug 23:30 ▬ steady 0.074 m
23 Aug 23:15 ▬ steady 0.074 m
23 Aug 23:00 ▬ steady 0.074 m
23 Aug 22:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.074 m
23 Aug 21:30 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.073 m
23 Aug 18:45 0.073 m

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2008 for the 6 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.5 km away).

186flood warnings 134flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 10 Mar 2026Groundwater flooding in the Cerne Valley

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 15 4
2025 20 9
2024 31 13
2023 30 11
2022 9 7
2021 10 6
2020 7 8
2019 14 12
2018 3 10
2017 3 5
2016 21 11
2015 1 5
2014 6 8
2013 7 10
2012 7 13
2011 0 2
2008 2 0

Warnings apply to a whole flood area, not necessarily this exact spot. Years before 2006 aren't covered by the EA's historic record. See also the Sydling St Nicholas flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Sydling St Nicholas
  • Watercourse: Sydling Water
  • Nearest Town: Sydling St Nicholas
  • County: Dorset
  • Nearest reservoir: Sutton Bingham (14.1 km) · 79.8% full (as of 29 Jun 2026)
  • Coordinates: 50°47'43"N 2°31'22"W (50.795256, -2.522871)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Dec 1969
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 44216
  • EA Gauge ID: 44216-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 1 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Frome, Piddle, Poole Harbour and Purbeck
  • Typical Range: 0.072 – 0.255 m
  • Drainage Area: 76 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.07 m (EA at 24 Aug 00:15)
  • Flow Archive: National River Flow Archive ↗

Geographic coordinates may reflect the access point for the gauge, and not the precise location in the watercourse that it is taking readings from.

Catchment Character

🌊 Mixed response A balance of quick runoff and slower groundwater baseflow.

Your catchment is all the land that drains rainfall into the river above this gauge. Its character — how steep, wet, wooded, urban or chalky that land is — decides how fast rain here turns into a rising river. A steep, bare or clay catchment is “flashy” (rises and falls quickly, floods easily); a flat, chalk or well-wooded one is slow and steady. The tiles below put numbers to that; the flow-duration curve reads left-to-right from the river’s typical high flows (Q5) down to its low flows (Q95) — a steep curve means a flashy river.

The physical character of the land that drains to this gauge, and how it shapes its flood response — from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).

Baseflow Index
0.63
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,009 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.1%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
13.10 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
32.40 m³/s
27 Dec 1979
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 1.063.310.6510.1945% (high)% of days exceeded95% (low)
Daily flow (m³/s) exceeded each % of the time — a steep curve is flashy, a flat one is steady. Q5 high · Q50 median · Q95 low.
Land Cover (2023)
Woodland 13%Grassland 57%Arable 24%Heath/scrub 3%Urban 3%
Grassland 50% → 57% since 1990

Photos

Gauging-station photographs from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).

Photos © NRFA / UKCEH & the measuring authority — shown at web resolution. Full gallery on the NRFA ↗

About this gauge

Velocity area station with Flat V weir for low flows.

More detail

The catchment

Catchment drains Devonian/Triassic sandstones between Quantock and Brendon Hills. Rapidly responsive catchment. Land-use is mostly rural with some urbanisation. No major changes in catchment.

The station

Opened in 1967 as velocity-area station with rock control. Flat V weir installed in August 1983 for low flows. New weir installed in 2018, with eel pass.

How it measures flow

Rated section at high flows. High flows measured from a gauging bridge constructed upstream of the weir. No problems with backing up from the bridge. Gauged to 13 cumecs. Comparison with nearby stations suggest pre-83 flows are underestimated. Two peak flow ratings across period of record, derived from a best fit through check gaugings; changes when weir was installed in 1983.

Flow regime

Runoff natural to within 10% at Q95. Some abstraction upstream for fish farming but flows not affected.

The flow record

Flow data unavailable 1982-83 due to stilling well leak. Flow data unavailable 1/08/83-31/3/84. Between 01/1967-12/1982 only daily mean flows available on EA archive. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2020 (WINFAP Files v9).

Descriptions from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH). NRFA station record ↗

Gauge Details

How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).

Gauge type
Flat-V weir
Operating since
1966
Station datum
9.3 mAOD
Flow record
1967–2024 · 57 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1967
Hydrometric area
51
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the Sydling Water at Sydling St Nicholas flooding today?

The current level is 0.07m, which is within the typical range of 0.07 to 0.26m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Sydling St Nicholas?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, updated roughly every 15 minutes.

What is a normal level for the Sydling Water at Sydling St Nicholas?

The typical range at this station is 0.07m to 0.26m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.26m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.

How often is this river level data updated?

Readings are taken by the Environment Agency gauge roughly every 15 minutes and FloodRadar refreshes its data continuously, so the level shown is normally less than an hour old.

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📮 Flood risk by postcode near this gauge

Postcodes within 5 km with properties in the Environment Agency’s rivers-and-sea flood-risk bands:

Check any UK postcode’s flood risk →

🏠 Buying or renting around here? Get the Property Flood-Risk Report for any English postcode — official risk band, floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →