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0.42

Fairford

Coln
Cotswolds catchment • Fairford • Gloucestershire • ID: 0680TH • Level
(33m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 210 views

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Current Level
0.422 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.424 mASD
24h Min
0.422 mASD
Typical Range
0.42 - 1.08
mASD
Highest Recorded
1.43 mASD
EA official record
A 3.07 reading (28 Mar 2025) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 30% of this
Current Flow
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🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 5h
08 Oct 10:00 ▬ steady 0.422 mASD
08 Oct 09:45 ▬ steady 0.422 mASD
08 Oct 09:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.422 mASD
08 Oct 09:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 09:00 ▬ steady 0.422 mASD
08 Oct 08:45 ▬ steady 0.422 mASD
08 Oct 08:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.422 mASD
08 Oct 08:15 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 08:00 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 07:45 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 07:30 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 07:15 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 07:00 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 06:45 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 06:30 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 06:15 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 06:00 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 05:45 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 05:30 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
08 Oct 05:15 0.423 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Fairford
  • Watercourse: River Coln
  • Nearest Town: Fairford
  • County: Gloucestershire
  • Coordinates: 51°42'34"N 1°47'2"W (51.709394, -1.783971)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 25 Jan 1991
  • Status: Active (Low flows should be treated with caution.)
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 0680TH
  • RLOI id: 7406 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 0680TH-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 0 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Cotswolds
  • Typical Range: 0.415 – 1.080 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 130 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: 0.42 mASD (EA at 8 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 upstream

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

None of the storm overflows FloodRadar holds is traced upstream of this gauge on the mapped river network. That is not the same as none: the map leaves out many small streams and culverts, so an overflow it cannot place may still drain here, and not every company publishes every overflow. Those nearby are listed below.

Nearby, connection not known

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

💧
Thames Water · into Dudgrove Stream · 4.0 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

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 →

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 1.08 m on about 32 days. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 0 days
2024 108 days, 19 of them high · 19 high
2023 0 days
2022 0 days
2021 18 days, 10 of them high · 10 high
2020 66 days, 34 of them high · 34 high
2019 47 days, 16 of them high · 16 high
2018 0 days
2017 50 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 1.15 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2012 for the 9 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.5 km away).

21flood warnings 99flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 3 Mar 2026 — River Coln from Fossebridge to Quennington

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 12 39
2025 0 3
2024 0 11
2023 2 9
2022 0 1
2021 1 4
2020 2 5
2019 0 6
2018 0 4
2017 0 3
2016 0 3
2015 0 1
2014 1 1
2013 0 3
2012 3 6

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 Fairford flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 9 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 1 more

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
0.85
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
898 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +10% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.6%
largely rural
Highest Daily Mean Flow
10.76 m³/s
17 Feb 2014 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 2.245.461.770.6585% (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 12%Grassland 42%Arable 43%Urban 2%
Arable 49% → 43% since 1990

Flow affected by: effluent returns.

About this gauge

Gauging station located on the lower River Coln.

More detail

The catchment

Linear catchment on the dip-slope of the Cotswolds (Oolitic Limestone). Rural with scattered settlements.

The station

Opened as an electromagnetic gauging station (buried coil). Ultrasonic since 2011.

How it measures flow

Current meter calibration to be completed. Station performance is generally good to bankfull (flows unreliable during exceptional floods (e.g. during the extreme July 2007 event). Reasonable velocities are maintained at low flows (0.5 cumecs is a typical drought minimum), but flows may be overestimated by around 10%.

Flow regime

Baseflow-dominated regime. Levels affected by STW.

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
Ultrasonic
Operating since
1990
Station datum
83.7 mAOD
Flow record
1991–2024 · 33 yrs · 98% complete
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Coln at Fairford flooding today?

The current level is 0.42m, which is within the typical range of 0.42 to 1.08m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Fairford?

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 Coln at Fairford?

The typical range at this station is 0.42m to 1.08m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.08m 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

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:

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 →