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Water Level Rising Slightly
Up 0.02 m since 20:00, rising slightly
0.34

Austins Bridge

Dart
Teign Torbay and South Hams catchment • Buckfastleigh • Devon • ID: 46122 • Level
(31m ago) • 3 readings/hr • 125 views

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Current Level
0.336 m
▲ Rising slightly
24h Max
0.336 m
24h Min
0.297 m
Typical Range
0.29 - 1.80
m
Highest Recorded
4.41 m
EA official record
4.41 in our data (since Oct 1958)
Current level is 8% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +2 cm over 5h
10 Oct 05:15 ▲ +0.4 cm 0.336 m
10 Oct 04:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.332 m
10 Oct 04:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.331 m
10 Oct 04:00 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.330 m
10 Oct 03:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.328 m
10 Oct 03:30 ▬ steady 0.327 m
10 Oct 03:15 ▬ steady 0.327 m
10 Oct 03:00 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.327 m
10 Oct 02:45 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.324 m
10 Oct 02:30 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.322 m
10 Oct 02:15 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.320 m
10 Oct 02:00 ▬ steady 0.318 m
10 Oct 01:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.318 m
10 Oct 01:30 ▬ steady 0.317 m
10 Oct 01:15 ▬ steady 0.317 m
10 Oct 01:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.317 m
10 Oct 00:45 ▬ steady 0.316 m
10 Oct 00:30 ▬ steady 0.316 m
10 Oct 00:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.316 m
10 Oct 00:00 0.315 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Austins Bridge
  • Watercourse: River Dart
  • Nearest Town: Buckfastleigh
  • County: Devon
  • Nearest reservoir: Fernworthy (20.1 km) · 27.0% full (as of 4 Oct 2026)
  • Coordinates: 50°28'45"N 3°45'41"W (50.479033, -3.761402)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 30 Sep 1958
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 46122
  • RLOI id: 3216 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 46122-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 2 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Teign Torbay and South Hams
  • Typical Range: 0.291 – 1.800 m
  • Drainage Area: 248 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 8 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.34 m (EA at 10 Oct 05:15)
  • 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.

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.

Connected upstream

Connected downstream

Same river system, separate branch

Nearby

Distances by river: OS Open Rivers. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

💧 Storm overflows upstream of this gauge

Storm overflows whose water reaches this gauge on the mapped river network, nearest first by distance along the river. The status is each water company's monitor: it says whether an overflow is discharging, not how much or what it contains.

9 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 1.4 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 9 report not discharging.

💧
South West Water · into Dean Burn · 1.4 km upstream along the river
23 spills · 8 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into River Dart · 1.7 km upstream along the river
17 spills · 42 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into River Mardle · 1.7 km upstream along the river
32 spills · 51 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into River Ashburn Via Sws · 4.2 km upstream along the river
39 spills · 175 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Reaches the river through a sewer, so where it enters is approximate.
💧
South West Water · into Holy Brook · 5.9 km upstream along the river
117 spills · 1,405 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Holy Brook(S) · 6.0 km upstream along the river
141 spills · 1,837 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into East Webburn River(S) · 15.4 km upstream along the river
14 spills · 21 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Blackbrook River(S) · 30.0 km upstream along the river
101 spills · 1,150 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

1 more further upstream, up to 30.0 km away along the river.

Nearby, connection not known

Within 6 km in a straight line, but the river map cannot say whether their water passes this gauge.

💧
Buckfastleigh STW🏊 Bathing water
South West Water · into River Dart · 40 m away in a straight line · too close to the gauge to say which side
90 spills · 1,406 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Buckfastleigh STW🏊 Bathing water
South West Water · into River Dart · 40 m away in a straight line · too close to the gauge to say which side
93 spills · 803 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into River Ashburton (S) · 3.4 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
57 spills · 281 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Broadhempston Stream · 4.7 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
57 spills · 1,039 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

6 other overflows within 6 km are downstream of this gauge or on another branch of the river network, so they are not listed.

These are the water companies' monitor statuses; a spill does not by itself explain a change in the gauge level. River connections and distances are traced on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels. Explore the sewage map →

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

How often this river runs high

In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 1.80 m on about 8 days. This year so far: 2 days.

2026 2 days, 1 of them high · 1 high so far
2025 13 days, 6 of them high · 6 high
2024 9 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
2023 10 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2022 7 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2021 7 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
2020 9 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2019 6 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2018 7 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2017 3 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 2.12 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 6 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.1 km away).

60flood warnings 206flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 27 Jan 2026 — River Dart from Buckfastleigh to Totnes, including Staverton

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 1 4
2025 4 12
2024 2 12
2023 2 17
2022 2 10
2021 1 9
2020 4 13
2019 0 14
2018 0 9
2017 0 5
2016 4 8
2015 1 9
2014 4 9
2013 11 19
2012 10 19
2011 1 4
2010 2 3
2009 4 10
2008 4 11
2007 2 6
2006 1 3

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 Buckfastleigh flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 6 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

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
0.52
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,984 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +17% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.7%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
231 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
267 m³/s
27 Dec 1979 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 11.5736.407.051.635% (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 12%Grassland 70%Arable 2%Heath/scrub 14%Urban 2%
Heath/scrub 19% → 14% since 1990

Flow affected by: surface-water abstraction, reservoir influence.

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 cableway. Longest record on the River Dart.

More detail

The catchment

Responsive catchment with upper two thirds draining moorland associated with Dartmoor Granite; lower third is of Carboniferous shales and sandstones. Steep relief in headwaters and at Granite boundary. Land use is low-grade agriculture and woodland. No major catchment changes.

The station

Velocity area station with cableway, main channel approximately 30m wide. Station significantly improved in 1973. Full range station serving Water Resources and Flood Warning purposes.

How it measures flow

Rock step forms downstream control, with variation in amounts of retained gravel causing some changes at low flows. The river has a stable rock bed at the station. Channel contains the mean annual flood. Well rated. Rating reviewed after 1979 record flood overtopped 4.2m walls on right bank causing bypassing.

Flow regime

Regulation of surface water and groundwater. Venford Reservoir operation affects low flows, exporting via the Devonport leat. Abstractions.

The flow record

Records available from 10/1958 but unreliable prior to 01/05/1960. December 1979 flood changed channel geometry at station and control. 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
Velocity–area
Operating since
1958
Station datum
22.4 mAOD
Flow record
1958–2024 · 66 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1958
Hydrometric area
46
Measured by
Environment Agency

Rain upstream

This gauge has no rain model of its own, but it usually follows Bellever: when about 6mm of rain falls near Bellever in 6h, this gauge usually starts rising about 3 hours later.

Recent rain upstream: 0.1mm/6h — below Bellever's usual trigger.

Record: this held 38 of 47 times (past storms) · rain gauge: Rainfall station

Experimental, from historical rain and river data. Not an official flood warning.

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Dart at Austins Bridge flooding today?

The current level is 0.34m, which is within the typical range of 0.29 to 1.80m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Austins Bridge?

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

What is a normal level for the River Dart at Austins Bridge?

The typical range at this station is 0.29m to 1.80m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.80m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.

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.

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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 →