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0.12

Ludbrook

Tavy
Tamar catchment • Buckland Monachorum • Devon • ID: 47122 • Level
(1h ago) • 4 readings/hr • 105 views

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Current Level
0.116 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.123 m
24h Min
0.116 m
Typical Range
0.16 - 1.80
m
Highest Recorded
3.62 m
27 Dec 1979
Since Jun 1975
Current level is 3% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 6h
23 Aug 23:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.116 m
23 Aug 23:30 ▬ steady 0.117 m
23 Aug 23:15 ▬ steady 0.117 m
23 Aug 23:00 ▬ steady 0.117 m
23 Aug 22:30 ▬ steady 0.117 m
23 Aug 21:30 ▬ steady 0.117 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.117 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.117 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▬ steady 0.117 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.118 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.118 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.118 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▬ steady 0.118 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.118 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.118 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.118 m
23 Aug 18:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.119 m
23 Aug 18:30 ▬ steady 0.118 m
23 Aug 18:15 ▬ steady 0.118 m
23 Aug 18:00 0.118 m

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 7 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 3.9 km away).

28flood warnings 261flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 27 Jan 2026River Tamar from Greystone Bridge to Cotehele excluding Calstock

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 2 3
2025 2 20
2024 2 12
2023 0 12
2022 0 6
2021 4 11
2020 2 20
2019 0 16
2018 0 11
2017 0 1
2016 4 12
2015 0 15
2014 1 19
2013 2 24
2012 4 40
2011 1 20
2010 0 2
2009 1 6
2008 2 8
2007 0 1
2006 1 2

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 Buckland Monachorum flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Ludbrook
  • Watercourse: River Tavy
  • Nearest Town: Buckland Monachorum
  • County: Devon
  • Nearest reservoir: Roadford (22.5 km) · 61.0% full (as of 16 Aug 2026)
  • Coordinates: 50°29'36"N 4°8'58"W (50.493456, -4.149573)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1974
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 47122
  • EA Gauge ID: 47122-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: Tamar
  • Typical Range: 0.161 – 1.800 m
  • Drainage Area: 197 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.12 m (EA at 23 Aug 23:45)
  • 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
0.55
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,741 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +12% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.2%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
158 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
182 m³/s
27 Dec 1979
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 7.1723.403.810.9665% (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 7%Grassland 71%Arable 2%Heath/scrub 17%Urban 3%

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

Unconventional structure comprising a flume set within shallow wing walls which curve through 90 degrees.

More detail

The catchment

A responsive catchment draining from the western flank of the Dartmoor Granite plateau; valleys are steeply incised and forested below Tavistock. Land cover is moorland, rough grazing and low-grade agriculture. No major catchment changes.

The station

Unconventional control opened in 1981 comprising a flume set within shallow (0.3m) wing walls which curve through 90 deg. W to fill the whole channel (20m). Cableway spans 32m.

How it measures flow

Well contained but highest flows out-of-bank. Greater uncertainty at higher flows due to lack of gaugings. Additional gaugings are available for the site prior to installation of the flume. Two peak flow ratings across period of record; not confirmed for out-of-bank flow and theoretical rating extrapolated beyond 1.5m.

Flow regime

Low flows dominated by abstractions for hydropower station and public water supply for Plymouth and the Morwellham canal.

The flow record

Peak flows rejected from 1981-2011 as stilling well issues causing significant under-recording of peak river levels.

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
Gauging structure
Operating since
1976
Station datum
10.0 mAOD
Flow record
1976–2024 · 48 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1981
Hydrometric area
47
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Tavy at Ludbrook flooding today?

The current level is 0.12m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Ludbrook?

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 River Tavy at Ludbrook?

The typical range at this station is 0.16m 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 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 →