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Ilfracombe

Tide 🌊 Tidal
England - South Coast catchment • Ilfracombe • Devon • ID: E72439 • 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) • 3 readings/hr • 125 views

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Get notified about Ilfracombe — 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
-3.291 mAOD
Trend unavailable
24h Max
3.510 mAOD
24h Min
-3.291 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
5.70 mAOD
EA official record
5.67 in our data (since Jul 2017)
🚽 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 · -340 cm over 9h
08 Oct 11:00 ▼▼ -18 cm -3.291 mAOD
08 Oct 10:30 ▼▼ -16 cm -3.110 mAOD
08 Oct 10:15 ▼▼ -47 cm -2.954 mAOD
08 Oct 09:45 ▼▼ -66 cm -2.480 mAOD
08 Oct 09:15 ▼▼ -37 cm -1.821 mAOD
08 Oct 09:00 ▼▼ -82 cm -1.452 mAOD
08 Oct 08:30 ▼▼ -44 cm -0.634 mAOD
08 Oct 08:15 ▼▼ -137 cm -0.199 mAOD
08 Oct 07:30 ▼▼ -82 cm 1.172 mAOD
08 Oct 07:00 ▼▼ -69 cm 1.989 mAOD
08 Oct 06:30 ▼▼ -50 cm 2.676 mAOD
08 Oct 06:00 ▼▼ -16 cm 3.174 mAOD
08 Oct 05:45 ▼▼ -18 cm 3.335 mAOD
08 Oct 05:15 ▲ +1.0 cm 3.510 mAOD
08 Oct 05:00 ▲▲ +21 cm 3.500 mAOD
08 Oct 04:30 ▲▲ +43 cm 3.295 mAOD
08 Oct 04:00 ▲▲ +184 cm 2.864 mAOD
08 Oct 02:45 ▲▲ +46 cm 1.027 mAOD
08 Oct 02:30 ▲▲ +46 cm 0.569 mAOD
08 Oct 02:15 0.109 mAOD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Ilfracombe
  • Watercourse: Tide
  • Nearest Town: Ilfracombe
  • County: Devon
  • Coordinates: 51°12'40"N 4°6'45"W (51.211131, -4.112362)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 11 Oct 2011
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: Tidal / coastal station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E72439
  • RLOI id: 3095 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E72439-level-tidal_level-Mean-15_min-mAOD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mAOD
  • Typical rise rate: 202 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~37 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: 🌊 Yes — levels follow the tide
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: England - South Coast
  • EA Cross-check: -3.29 mAOD (EA at 8 Oct 11:00)

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 2014 for the 2 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.2 km away).

2severe warnings 14flood warnings 0flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 8 Apr 2024 — North Devon coast at Ilfracombe

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2024 0 1 0
2022 0 1 0
2020 0 6 0
2019 0 1 0
2018 0 1 0
2016 0 2 0
2014 2 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 Ilfracombe flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 2 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Tide at Ilfracombe flooding today?

The latest recorded level is -3.29m. Compare it with the recent history on the chart above to judge whether levels are unusually high.

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. 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.

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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 →