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Padstow

North Cornwall Coast 🌊 Tidal
North Cornwall catchment • Padstow • Cornwall • ID: 49116 • Level
This gauge is tidally influenced — levels rise and fall with each tide, so rapid changes here are normal and don't necessarily indicate flooding.
(1h ago) • 4 readings/hr • 138 views

Set water level alerts

Get notified about Padstow — tick as many as you like, they all share the notify settings below.

You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.

Each one is saved as its own alert — pause or remove them individually any time.

Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
1.129 mAOD
▼ Easing
24h Max
2.995 mAOD
24h Min
1.125 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
4.78 mAOD
EA official record
4.76 in our data (since Nov 2012)
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Flood predictions aren't generated for tidal gauges — their levels are driven by the tide, not by catchment rainfall, so the forecast models would have no skill here.

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.2 cm over 6h
08 Oct 01:30 ▬ steady 1.129 mAOD
08 Oct 01:15 ▬ steady 1.130 mAOD
08 Oct 01:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 1.130 mAOD
08 Oct 00:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 1.131 mAOD
08 Oct 00:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 1.130 mAOD
08 Oct 00:15 ▬ steady 1.131 mAOD
08 Oct 00:00 ▬ steady 1.131 mAOD
07 Oct 23:45 ▬ steady 1.132 mAOD
07 Oct 23:30 ▬ steady 1.132 mAOD
07 Oct 22:30 ▬ steady 1.132 mAOD
07 Oct 22:15 ▬ steady 1.131 mAOD
07 Oct 22:00 ▬ steady 1.132 mAOD
07 Oct 21:45 ▬ steady 1.132 mAOD
07 Oct 21:30 ▬ steady 1.132 mAOD
07 Oct 21:15 ▬ steady 1.132 mAOD
07 Oct 21:00 ▬ steady 1.131 mAOD
07 Oct 20:45 ▬ steady 1.131 mAOD
07 Oct 20:30 ▬ steady 1.131 mAOD
07 Oct 20:15 ▬ steady 1.132 mAOD
07 Oct 20:00 1.131 mAOD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Padstow
  • Watercourse: North Cornwall Coast
  • Nearest Town: Padstow
  • County: Cornwall
  • Nearest reservoir: Blackpool Pit (21.7 km) · 79.5% full (as of 31 May 2026)
  • Coordinates: 50°32'30"N 4°56'13"W (50.541735, -4.936938)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Feb 1998
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: Tidal / coastal station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 49116
  • RLOI id: 3146 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 49116-level-tidal_level-i-15_min-mAOD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mAOD
  • Typical rise rate: 172 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: 🌊 Yes — levels follow the tide
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: North Cornwall
  • EA Cross-check: 1.13 mAOD (EA at 8 Oct 01:45)

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

Nearby Stations

Gauges connected to this river, and others nearby. A distance “by river” follows the river on the map; any other is in a straight line.

Nearby

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2012 for the 5 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.0 km away).

3severe warnings 38flood warnings 101flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 8 Apr 2024 — Tidal River Camel excluding Wadebridge and Chapel Amble

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 0 5
2025 0 0 5
2024 0 4 10
2023 0 3 6
2022 0 0 1
2021 0 0 4
2020 0 5 14
2019 0 6 12
2018 0 2 9
2017 0 0 5
2016 0 3 15
2015 0 4 15
2014 3 8 0
2012 0 3 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 Padstow flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 5 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Frequently asked questions

Is the North Cornwall Coast at Padstow flooding today?

The latest recorded level is 1.13m. Compare it with the recent history on the chart above to judge whether levels are unusually high.

Is the river level rising or falling at Padstow?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling slightly. The chart above shows the last 12 hours of measurements by default (up to 7 days), updated roughly every 15 minutes.

Why is the level slowly falling?

When little or no rain has fallen for a while, a river level gradually drops as the water stored in the ground and soil drains away with nothing to replace it. This is called baseflow recession and is normal in dry spells. Only about 1.8mm of rain has fallen nearby in the last 7 days, so the flow is being sustained mainly by groundwater. A gentle decline like this is expected and is not a sign of a problem — downstream gauges often recede a little faster than headwaters further upstream, and levels recover once rain returns.

How often is this river level data updated?

Readings are supplied by the Environment Agency gauge. FloodRadar checks for updates roughly every 15 minutes; the timestamp above shows how recent the latest available reading is.

Embed this gauge on your website

Free live river-level widget — ideal for parish councils, angling clubs and local sites. Updates automatically.

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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, recorded floods, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →