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) • 2 readings/hr • 174 views
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You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.
You'll be notified when a new storm-overflow (sewage) discharge starts within ~3 km of this gauge, based on the water companies' near-real-time feeds.
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Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on
EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms
Current Level
-0.486 mAOD
▲ Rising (+13cm/hr)
24h Max
1.416 mAOD
24h Min
-0.762 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
2.97 mAOD
EA official record
A 3.91 reading (16 Mar 2013) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
EA forecast (official)
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.
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.
12 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 1.6 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 11 report not discharging, and for 1 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
South West Water · into Branscombe (C) · 5.1 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
No live feed for this overflow
1 other overflow within 6 km is downstream of this gauge or on another branch of the river network, so it is 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 →
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 West Bay flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 24 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
The latest recorded level is -0.49m. Compare it with the recent history on the chart above to judge whether levels are unusually high.
Is the river level rising or falling at West Bay?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently rising. 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.
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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Free live river-level widget — ideal for parish councils, angling clubs and local sites. Updates automatically.
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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:
FloodRadar
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