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0.18

Briantspuddle

Piddle
Frome, Piddle, Poole Harbour and Purbeck catchment • Briantspuddle • Dorset • ID: 44206 • Level
(1h ago) • 4 readings/hr • 180 views

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Current Level
0.175 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.181 mASD
24h Min
0.161 mASD
Typical Range
0.17 - 0.61
mASD
Highest Recorded
0.78 mASD
EA official record
A 1.54 reading (1 Jan 2014) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 23% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.4 cm over 6h
08 Oct 01:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.175 mASD
08 Oct 01:15 ▬ steady 0.176 mASD
08 Oct 01:00 ▬ steady 0.176 mASD
08 Oct 00:45 ▬ steady 0.176 mASD
08 Oct 00:30 ▬ steady 0.176 mASD
08 Oct 00:15 ▬ steady 0.176 mASD
08 Oct 00:00 ▬ steady 0.176 mASD
07 Oct 23:45 ▬ steady 0.176 mASD
07 Oct 23:30 ▬ steady 0.176 mASD
07 Oct 22:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.176 mASD
07 Oct 22:15 ▬ steady 0.177 mASD
07 Oct 22:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.177 mASD
07 Oct 21:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.176 mASD
07 Oct 21:30 ▬ steady 0.177 mASD
07 Oct 21:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.177 mASD
07 Oct 21:00 ▬ steady 0.178 mASD
07 Oct 20:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.178 mASD
07 Oct 20:30 ▬ steady 0.177 mASD
07 Oct 20:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.177 mASD
07 Oct 20:00 0.179 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Briantspuddle
  • Watercourse: River Piddle
  • Nearest Town: Briantspuddle
  • County: Dorset
  • Coordinates: 50°44'23"N 2°15'12"W (50.739761, -2.253330)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1992
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 44206
  • RLOI id: 3276 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 44206-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: Frome, Piddle, Poole Harbour and Purbeck
  • Typical Range: 0.173 – 0.613 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 112 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 6 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: 0.18 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 01:45)
  • 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 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.

4 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 1.9 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 3 report not discharging, and for 1 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.

💧
Wessex Water · into Tributary Of River Piddle · 1.9 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now
💧
Wessex Water · 9.1 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Wessex Water · into The River Piddle · 17.2 km upstream along the river
78 spills · 1,753 hours in 2025
Monitor offline: it cannot say whether it is discharging
💧
Wessex Water · into The River Piddle · 17.7 km upstream along the river
76 spills · 1,692 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

Nearby, connection not known

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

💧
Wessex Water · into Tributary Of River Piddle (S) · 230 m away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
1 spill · 7 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Wessex Water · into Tributary Of The River Frome · 4.8 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
0 spills · 0 hours in 2024
No live feed for this overflow
💧
Wessex Water · into Tributary Of The River Frome · 5.2 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
36 spills · 187 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Wessex Water · into A Tributary Of The River Frome · 5.5 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
3 spills · 15 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Wessex Water · into Tributary Of River Frome · 5.8 km away in a straight line · not connected to this gauge on the river map
11 spills · 31 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

2 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 0.61 m on about 27 days. This year so far: 46 days.

2026 46 days, 11 of them high · 11 high so far
2025 17 days
2024 69 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2023 52 days, 12 of them high · 12 high
2022 4 days
2021 17 days
2020 63 days
2019 14 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2018 10 days
2017 0 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 0.72 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2007 for the 4 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 2.5 km away).

78flood warnings 174flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 19 Feb 2026 — Lower Frome from Dorchester to East Stoke

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 4 40
2025 7 11
2024 12 23
2023 13 17
2022 2 8
2021 1 7
2020 4 6
2019 4 13
2018 0 13
2017 0 4
2016 6 7
2015 0 2
2014 6 2
2013 5 10
2012 7 11
2010 1 0
2009 3 0
2008 1 0
2007 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 Briantspuddle flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 4 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Catchment Character

🌊 Groundwater-fed Slow and steady — fed largely by groundwater, so levels change gradually, not in sudden spikes.

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
0.88
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,089 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.5%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
5.79 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
10.55 m³/s
13 Dec 2000 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 1.354.720.7800.1995% (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 6%Grassland 39%Arable 53%Urban 2%
Grassland 47% → 39% 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

Flat V crump weir for low flow monitoring.

More detail

The catchment

Predominantly Lower Chalk with small outcrops of Middle and Upper Chalk forming higher ground flanking the catchment. Mainly pastoral with some arable agriculture on flatter ground. No major catchment changes.

The station

Flat V Crump weir 6.0m broad for low flow monitoring.

How it measures flow

Station bypassed substantially at high flows. Non-modular flow at about 0.55m. Well-maintained structure. Drowning is an issue due to weed growth but weed regularly cut. Bypassing and unstable bed. Some raising of banks upstream carried out in 2001 to reduce bypassing. One peak flow rating applied across period of record.

Flow regime

No major flow regime influences.

The flow record

Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2022 (WINFAP Files v11).

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
Flat-V weir
Operating since
1993
Flow record
1993–2024 · 31 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1993
Hydrometric area
44
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Piddle at Briantspuddle flooding today?

The current level is 0.18m, which is within the typical range of 0.17 to 0.61m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Briantspuddle?

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.

What is a normal level for the River Piddle at Briantspuddle?

The typical range at this station is 0.17m to 0.61m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.61m 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.

Embed this gauge on your website

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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 →