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0.23

Whitford Bridge

Axe
Otter, Sid, Axe and Lim catchment • Whitford • Devon • ID: 45211 • Level
(46m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 145 views

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⤴ Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
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Current Level
0.228 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.245 mASD
24h Min
0.222 mASD
Typical Range
0.20 - 1.50
mASD
Highest Recorded
2.59 mASD
EA official record
2.59 in our data (since Nov 1964)
Current level is 9% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +0.6 cm over 6h
09 Oct 13:15 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.228 mASD
09 Oct 13:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.226 mASD
09 Oct 12:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.225 mASD
09 Oct 12:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.227 mASD
09 Oct 12:00 ▬ steady 0.226 mASD
09 Oct 11:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.226 mASD
09 Oct 11:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.225 mASD
09 Oct 11:15 ▬ steady 0.226 mASD
09 Oct 11:00 ▬ steady 0.226 mASD
09 Oct 10:45 ▬ steady 0.226 mASD
09 Oct 10:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.226 mASD
09 Oct 10:15 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.225 mASD
09 Oct 09:45 ▬ steady 0.223 mASD
09 Oct 09:15 ▬ steady 0.223 mASD
09 Oct 09:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.223 mASD
09 Oct 08:30 ▬ steady 0.222 mASD
09 Oct 08:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.222 mASD
09 Oct 07:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.224 mASD
09 Oct 07:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.223 mASD
09 Oct 07:15 0.222 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Whitford Bridge
  • Watercourse: River Axe
  • Nearest Town: Whitford
  • County: Devon
  • Nearest reservoir: Leigh (23.1 km) · 41.3% full (as of 31 Aug 2026)
  • Coordinates: 50°45'10"N 3°2'50"W (50.752859, -3.047245)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 5 Nov 1964
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 45211
  • Also at this site: WHITFORD BRIDGE (E72766, flow, reporting)
  • RLOI id: 3238 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 45211-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • 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: Otter, Sid, Axe and Lim
  • Typical Range: 0.199 – 1.500 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 289 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 7 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: 0.23 mASD (EA at 9 Oct 13:15)
  • 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.

15 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 5.0 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 15 report not discharging.

💧
South West Water · into River Axe · 5.0 km upstream along the river
110 spills · 995 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into River Axe(S) · 6.6 km upstream along the river
64 spills · 577 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into River Axe · 8.6 km upstream along the river
68 spills · 587 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Trib Of The River Axe · 8.7 km upstream along the river
18 spills · 50 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into River Axe · 10.5 km upstream along the river
29 spills · 87 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into The Corry Brook (S) · 11.6 km upstream along the river
65 spills · 1,042 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Watercourse · 16.1 km upstream along the river
41 spills · 439 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
South West Water · into Forton Brook · 21.2 km upstream along the river
54 spills · 310 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.

7 more further upstream, up to 38.0 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.

💧
Axmouth Pscso/EO🏊 Bathing water
South West Water · into River Axe (S) · 4.3 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
36 spills · 106 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Seaton STW🏊 Bathing water
South West Water · into River Axe Estuary(E) · 4.6 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
60 spills · 825 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Harbour Road SPS (Seaton)🏊 Bathing water
South West Water · into River Axe Estuary · 5.2 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

8 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 1.50 m on about 21 days. This year so far: 20 days.

2026 20 days, 7 of them high · 7 high so far
2025 20 days, 12 of them high · 12 high
2024 31 days, 16 of them high · 16 high
2023 28 days, 12 of them high · 12 high
2022 16 days, 8 of them high · 8 high
2021 19 days, 11 of them high · 11 high
2020 22 days, 10 of them high · 10 high
2019 20 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2018 24 days, 8 of them high · 8 high
2017 10 days, 4 of them high · 4 high

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 1.90 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 14 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.5 km away).

2severe warnings 321flood warnings 301flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 27 Jan 2026 — River Axe (Mid) at Axminster

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 9 11
2025 0 22 17
2024 0 24 31
2023 0 19 19
2022 0 10 12
2021 0 13 15
2020 0 13 17
2019 0 20 17
2018 0 19 18
2017 0 12 9
2016 0 26 15
2015 0 6 9
2014 1 36 15
2013 0 29 18
2012 1 45 21
2011 0 2 6
2010 0 4 4
2009 0 4 14
2008 0 8 14
2007 0 0 14
2006 0 0 5

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 Whitford flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 14 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 6 more

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
0.50
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,109 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.1%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
108 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
177 m³/s
7 Jul 2012 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 5.3118.202.851.265% (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 8%Grassland 75%Arable 13%Urban 3%
Grassland 78% → 75% since 1990

Flow affected by: public water supply, groundwater abstraction, effluent returns, industrial / agricultural abstraction.

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

Compound Crump profile weir downstream of Whitford Bridge. Initially installed to measure low flows but now a full range station.

More detail

The catchment

Extremely complex catchment of moderate relief draining Chalk and Greensand headwaters. Middle and lower reaches Mercia Mudstone; Lias clays and more Greensand. Land use is meadowland, low intensity agriculture, woodland and minor industrial development. No major changes in catchment.

The station

Compound Crump profile weir, total width 21.3m, low flow section 7.6m broad. Cableway on site. Installed primarily to measure low flows. Since 2009, Velocity area station for medium flows, modelled rating for high flows.

How it measures flow

Structure limit 2.1 m stage. Overspill at 1.65m on left bank fields; in large floods considerable bypassing. In-channel deposition becoming an increasing problem: A significant amount of gravel has built up between the upstream side of the weir and the road bridge. Bypassing included in the modelled rating. Bed-mounted ADCP added in 09/2009, when weir becomes non-modular flows are calculated using this until bypassing occurs, then reverts to modelled high flow rating.

Flow regime

Runoff influenced by groundwater abstraction/recharge. Abstraction for public water supply and industrial/agricultural purposes. Flows increased by effluent returns.

The flow record

Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8).

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
1964
Station datum
7.3 mAOD
Flow record
1964–2022 · 58 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1964
Hydrometric area
45
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Axe at Whitford Bridge flooding today?

The current level is 0.23m, which is within the typical range of 0.20 to 1.50m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Whitford Bridge?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. 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. Only about 8.9mm of rain has fallen nearby in the last 7 days, so the flow is being sustained mainly by groundwater. 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 Axe at Whitford Bridge?

The typical range at this station is 0.20m to 1.50m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.50m 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 →