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Water Level Falling
0.60

Rockhay Bridge

Torridge
Torridge and Hartland Streams catchment • Sheepwash • Devon • ID: 50118 • Level
(33m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 158 views

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Current Level
0.603 m
▼ Falling (-1cm/hr)
24h Max
0.694 m
24h Min
0.327 m
Typical Range
0.25 - 3.20
m
Highest Recorded
3.66 m
EA official record
3.59 in our data (since Sep 1988)
Current level is 16% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -8 cm over 6h
10 Oct 09:45 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.603 m
10 Oct 09:30 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.607 m
10 Oct 09:15 ▼ -0.6 cm 0.610 m
10 Oct 09:00 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.616 m
10 Oct 08:45 ▼ -0.9 cm 0.618 m
10 Oct 08:15 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.627 m
10 Oct 08:00 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.630 m
10 Oct 07:45 ▼ -0.6 cm 0.634 m
10 Oct 07:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.640 m
10 Oct 07:15 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.642 m
10 Oct 07:00 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.646 m
10 Oct 06:45 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.650 m
10 Oct 06:30 ▼ -0.6 cm 0.655 m
10 Oct 06:00 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.661 m
10 Oct 05:45 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.666 m
10 Oct 05:30 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.669 m
10 Oct 05:15 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.672 m
10 Oct 04:45 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.677 m
10 Oct 04:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.680 m
10 Oct 04:15 0.681 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Rockhay Bridge
  • Watercourse: River Torridge
  • Nearest Town: Sheepwash
  • County: Devon
  • Nearest reservoir: Meldon (16.4 km) · 29.0% full (as of 4 Oct 2026)
  • Coordinates: 50°50'35"N 4°7'20"W (50.843021, -4.122236)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 21 Sep 1988
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 50118
  • RLOI id: 3124 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 50118-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 4 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Torridge and Hartland Streams
  • Typical Range: 0.251 – 3.200 m
  • Drainage Area: 258 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: 0.60 m (EA at 10 Oct 09:45)
  • 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.

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 downstream

Same river system, separate branch

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.

5 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 3.7 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 5 report not discharging.

💧
South West Water · into River Torridge · 3.7 km upstream along the river
139 spills · 1,519 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into River Torridge (And Trib Of) · 6.0 km upstream along the river
102 spills · 636 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into River Torridge · 15.2 km upstream along the river
91 spills · 1,281 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Trib Of River Torridge · 31.6 km upstream along the river
109 spills · 579 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
South West Water · into (S) Trib Cranford Water · 35.2 km upstream along the river
23 spills · 301 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.

Nearby, connection not known

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

💧
South West Water · into Trib Of R. Torridge (S) · 2.3 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
16 spills · 3 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Trib Of Little Mere River (S) · 2.9 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
6 spills · 31 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Trib Of Pulworthy Brook (S) · 3.8 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
95 spills · 1,323 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Unnamed Watercourse · 4.0 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
70 spills · 629 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

10 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 3.20 m on about 1 day. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 2 days
2024 1 day
2023 0 days
2022 0 days
2021 0 days
2020 2 days
2019 2 days
2018 0 days
2017 0 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 5 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.5 km away).

30flood warnings 231flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 9 Dec 2025 — River Lew at Gribbleford Bridge and Hatherleigh

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 2
2025 3 15
2024 2 13
2023 0 10
2022 0 3
2021 2 12
2020 4 18
2019 0 11
2018 0 14
2017 1 4
2016 1 11
2015 4 17
2014 0 10
2013 3 23
2012 7 33
2011 0 5
2010 0 1
2009 0 10
2008 2 10
2007 1 5
2006 0 4

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 Sheepwash 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.

Catchment Character

🌊 Fairly flashy Responds fairly quickly to rain, with moderate baseflow between events.

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
0.40
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,314 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +6% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.3%
largely rural
Highest Daily Mean Flow
110 m³/s
31 Oct 1998 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 7.1427.513.030.3445% (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 15%Grassland 70%Arable 12%Heath/scrub 1%Urban 1%
Grassland 75% → 70% since 1990

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

Informal Flat V low flow control built in 1988 to monitor potential transfer from Roadford Reservoir.

More detail

The catchment

Moderate relief catchment, natural, wholly rural, draining Culm Measures (shales and sandstones). Close to North Devon Coast. Land use is mostly grazing, low grade agriculture and minor forestry. No major changes to catchment.

The station

Informal Flat V low flow control built in 1988 between high angle, 12.8m wide, trapezoidal gabion wing walls. Sited on a bend. Gauging was from an iron footbridge upstream but cableway installed in 1995. Station installed to monitor potential transfer from Roadford Reservoir. Removed from peak flows dataset in February 2018 (WINFAP Files v6).

How it measures flow

Large flows inundate wide flood plain upstream of the bridge. Relatively large bypassing (>50% of the flow). One rating applied across period of record. Poor fit to gaugings beyond 1.5m.

Flow regime

Runoff natural to within 10% at Q95.

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
1988
Station datum
61.0 mAOD
Flow record
1988–2024 · 36 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
50
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Torridge at Rockhay Bridge flooding today?

The current level is 0.60m, which is within the typical range of 0.25 to 3.20m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Rockhay Bridge?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling. 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. 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.

What is a normal level for the River Torridge at Rockhay Bridge?

The typical range at this station is 0.25m to 3.20m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 3.20m 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 →