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Water Level Easing
Easing — down from 1.09 at 12:30, now 1.03
1.03

Winchelsea Strand Bridge

Brede
Rother catchment • Winchelsea Beach • East Sussex • ID: E6520 • Level
(46m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 144 views

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⤴ Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
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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
1.026 mASD
▼ Easing (-2cm/hr)
24h Max
1.092 mASD
24h Min
1.009 mASD
Typical Range
0.19 - 3.50
mASD
Highest Recorded
3.73 mASD
EA official record
A 4.80 reading (20 Nov 2016) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 27% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -6 cm over 7h
08 Oct 19:45 ▼ -0.9 cm 1.026 mASD
08 Oct 19:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 1.035 mASD
08 Oct 19:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 1.036 mASD
08 Oct 19:00 ▲ +1 cm 1.035 mASD
08 Oct 18:15 ▼ -0.5 cm 1.023 mASD
08 Oct 18:00 ▼ -0.5 cm 1.028 mASD
08 Oct 17:45 ▬ steady 1.033 mASD
08 Oct 17:30 ▼ -0.6 cm 1.033 mASD
08 Oct 17:00 ▲ +0.4 cm 1.039 mASD
08 Oct 16:45 ▲ +0.5 cm 1.035 mASD
08 Oct 16:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 1.030 mASD
08 Oct 16:00 ▼ -1 cm 1.032 mASD
08 Oct 15:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 1.045 mASD
08 Oct 15:15 ▼ -3 cm 1.047 mASD
08 Oct 14:45 ▼ -0.6 cm 1.072 mASD
08 Oct 14:30 ▼ -1 cm 1.078 mASD
08 Oct 14:00 ▬ steady 1.091 mASD
08 Oct 13:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 1.090 mASD
08 Oct 13:30 ▲ +0.4 cm 1.092 mASD
08 Oct 13:00 1.088 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Winchelsea Strand Bridge
  • Watercourse: River Brede
  • Nearest Town: Winchelsea Beach
  • County: East Sussex
  • Nearest reservoir: Powdermill (11.5 km) · 31.5% full (as of 31 Aug 2026)
  • Coordinates: 50°55'24"N 0°43'14"E (50.923434, 0.720540)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 2003
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E6520
  • RLOI id: 1127 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E6520-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 5 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Rother
  • Datum: 0.100m AOD
  • Typical Range: 0.188 – 3.500 mASD
  • EA Cross-check: 1.04 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 19:30)

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

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.

6 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 1.2 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 5 report not discharging, and for 1 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.

💧
Southern Water · into Tributary Of River Brede · 1.2 km upstream along the river
12 spills · 95 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Tributary Of River Brede · 10.7 km upstream along the river
29 spills · 251 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Tributary Of River Brede · 12.0 km upstream along the river
11 spills · 19 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Tributary Of River Brede · 12.0 km upstream along the river
64 spills · 844 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into River Brede · 14.8 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Status unknown — the live feed has not updated for 143 d 8 h
💧
Southern Water · into Trib Of The River Line · 19.8 km upstream along the river
40 spills · 254 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.

💧
Southern Water · into Trib Of Royal Military Canal · 2.4 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
14 spills · 79 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into River Tillingham · 2.7 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
7 spills · 19 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into The River Tillingham · 2.9 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
27 spills · 23 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Freshwater River · 3.0 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
22 spills · 54 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into River Tillingham · 3.0 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
77 spills · 66 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Rye WwTW, Harbour Road, Rye🏊 Bathing water
Southern Water · into The River Rother · 3.0 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
33 spills · 178 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into The River Rother · 3.4 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
1 spill · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Rye Harbour (Tidal) · 3.5 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
19 spills · 10 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

10 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.

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

This gauge rarely reaches its typical high of 3.50 m: 0 days since 2017. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 0 days
2024 0 days
2023 0 days
2022 0 days
2021 0 days
2020 0 days
2019 0 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 2012 for the 10 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.4 km away).

11flood warnings 103flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 16 Jan 2023 — New Winchelsea Road, Rye

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 4
2025 0 3
2024 0 9
2023 2 9
2022 0 3
2021 0 4
2020 6 16
2019 2 8
2018 0 6
2017 1 6
2016 0 8
2015 0 7
2014 0 10
2013 0 5
2012 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 Winchelsea Beach flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 10 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 2 more

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Brede at Winchelsea Strand Bridge flooding today?

The current level is 1.03m, which is within the typical range of 0.19 to 3.50m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Winchelsea Strand Bridge?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling slightly. 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 6.8mm 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 Brede at Winchelsea Strand Bridge?

The typical range at this station is 0.19m to 3.50m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 3.50m 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 →