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0.25

Cowley Bridge

Creedy
Exe catchment • Cowley • Devon • ID: 45117 • Level
(22m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 134 views

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Current Level
0.246 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.250 m
24h Min
0.242 m
Typical Range
0.13 - 2.50
m
Highest Recorded
4.73 m
EA official record
4.48 in our data (since Mar 1964)
Current level is 5% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.4 cm over 6h
24 Aug 00:30 ▬ steady 0.246 m
24 Aug 00:15 ▬ steady 0.246 m
24 Aug 00:00 ▬ steady 0.246 m
23 Aug 23:45 ▬ steady 0.246 m
23 Aug 23:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.246 m
23 Aug 23:15 ▬ steady 0.247 m
23 Aug 23:00 ▬ steady 0.247 m
23 Aug 22:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.247 m
23 Aug 21:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.248 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.249 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.249 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▬ steady 0.249 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.249 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.249 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.249 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▬ steady 0.249 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.249 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.249 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.250 m
23 Aug 18:45 0.250 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 2.0 km away).

14flood warnings 125flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 27 Jan 2026River Exe at vulnerable riverside locations in Exeter, including Exwick Mills and Mill on the Exe

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 2 1
2025 3 5
2024 0 8
2023 2 6
2022 0 2
2021 0 4
2020 3 9
2019 0 7
2018 0 8
2017 0 2
2016 0 6
2015 0 6
2014 0 8
2013 0 9
2012 4 16
2011 0 1
2010 0 1
2009 0 7
2008 0 10
2007 0 7
2006 0 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 Cowley flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Cowley Bridge
  • Watercourse: River Creedy
  • Nearest Town: Cowley
  • County: Devon
  • Coordinates: 50°45'35"N 3°33'35"W (50.759747, -3.559651)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 23 Mar 1964
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 45117
  • EA Gauge ID: 45117-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: Exe
  • Typical Range: 0.126 – 2.500 m
  • Drainage Area: 262 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.25 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
0.58
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
941 mm/yr
1991–2020 · -3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.9%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
76.41 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
108 m³/s
7 Dec 2000
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 3.7514.301.650.3285% (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 11%Grassland 62%Arable 24%Urban 2%
Arable 30% → 24% since 1990

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, effluent returns.

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 in deep cutting.

More detail

The catchment

A v-shaped catchment draining moderate to high relief valleys to the N and W. Predominantly Culm Measures, sandstones and shales with some Permo-Triassic breccias and sandstones near Crediton. Low grade agriculture, grazing and forestry. No major catchment changes.

The station

Velocity area station in deep cutting. Rock bars form low flow control.

How it measures flow

Flood flows contained by railway tracks on the left bank and, on the right bank, by rock walls, gabions and a newly constructed Crib wall (03/2006) which extends along a large section upstream of the control. Bypassing minimal but occurs on left bank at very high flows. River bed re-profiled (shoal removed) following construction works in 2006, with multiple low flow ratings required since then due to shoaling. Flows above ~12 cumecs derived from modelled rating, though peak flows in 1999 and 2000 still considered overestimated. Current metering by wading for low flows. Multiple peak flow ratings applied across period of record however only upper limb shown. Low flow re-rating adjustments not shown. Upper limb derived from hydraulic model with good fit to available gaugings.

Flow regime

Runoff influenced by groundwater abstraction/recharge. Runoff increased by effluent returns.

The flow record

02/1995 flows missing due to station hut replacement. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in October 2018 (WINFAP Files v7).

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
1964
Station datum
14.2 mAOD
Flow record
1964–2024 · 60 yrs · 99% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1964
Hydrometric area
45
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Creedy at Cowley Bridge flooding today?

The current level is 0.25m, which is within the typical range of 0.13 to 2.50m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Cowley Bridge?

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 Creedy at Cowley Bridge?

The typical range at this station is 0.13m to 2.50m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.50m 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 →