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0.38

Fakenham

Wensum
Broadland Rivers catchment • Fakenham • Norfolk • ID: E25940 • Level
(1h ago) • 2 readings/hr • 172 views

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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
0.383 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.394 mASD
24h Min
0.382 mASD
Typical Range
0.09 - 0.64
mASD
Highest Recorded
0.81 mASD
EA official record
A 1.16 reading (23 Apr 2026) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 47% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 10h
08 Oct 01:30 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
08 Oct 01:00 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
08 Oct 00:30 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
08 Oct 00:00 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 23:30 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 22:30 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 22:00 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 21:30 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 21:00 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 20:30 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 20:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 19:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.382 mASD
07 Oct 19:00 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 18:30 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 18:00 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 17:30 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 17:00 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 16:30 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 16:00 ▬ steady 0.383 mASD
07 Oct 15:30 0.383 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Fakenham
  • Watercourse: River Wensum
  • Nearest Town: Fakenham
  • County: Norfolk
  • Coordinates: 52°49'38"N 0°50'51"E (52.827359, 0.847422)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 13 Feb 1980
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E25940
  • RLOI id: 6098 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E25940-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Broadland Rivers
  • Typical Range: 0.091 – 0.640 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 162 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: 0.38 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 01:30)
  • 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 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

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.

1 storm overflow is traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 11.7 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 1 reports not discharging.

💧
Anglian Water · into Rudham Stream, Trib R. Wensum · 11.7 km upstream along the river
2 spills · 3 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 0.64 m on about 1 day. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 0 days
2024 2 days
2023 0 days
2022 0 days
2021 0 days
2020 1 day
2019 2 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 2007 for the 1 flood area linked to this gauge (nearest 5.6 km away).

0flood warnings 6flood alerts

Most recent flood alert: 5 Jan 2024 — The River Wensum upstream of Hempton, including the River Tat

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2024 0 2
2020 0 1
2019 0 1
2008 0 1
2007 0 1

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 Fakenham flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. This is the area 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
0.86
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
728 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.1%
largely rural
Highest Daily Mean Flow
8.79 m³/s
12 Feb 1977 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.8672.000.6870.2485% (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 31%Arable 58%Urban 4%
Arable 76% → 58% since 1990

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, 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

Station gauging a Chalk catchment with mainly permeable soil types that contribute to muted flood response, minimal gw extractions.

More detail

The catchment

Low-lying Chalk catchment largely overlain with Boulder Clay and some sands and gravels. Mainly permeable soil types. Predominantly arable.

The station

Compound Crump with low flow notch, immediately u/s of Fakenham Mill. Removed from peak flows dataset in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8).

How it measures flow

An automated lifting gate for retaining summer levels acts as a sharp-crested weir. Gate is raised in winter to pass high flows. Unlikely to be bypassed apart from in exceptional events, not known to go non modular within operating range, theoretically rated. There are two ratings at the site, one for gate open and one for gate closed. When gate is up (open) there appears to be a small underestimation of flow by the rating, probably due to small amount of bypass at structure.

Flow regime

Permeable soils contribute to muted flood response. Groundwater abstractions have a minimal impact on runoff.

The flow record

No data for 17/01/2020 to 02/03/2020 due to manual gate movements. Unable to calculate flow when gate is manually operated.

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
1966
Station datum
33.7 mAOD
Flow record
1966–2024 · 58 yrs · 99% complete
Hydrometric area
34
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Wensum at Fakenham flooding today?

The current level is 0.38m, which is within the typical range of 0.09 to 0.64m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Fakenham?

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 Wensum at Fakenham?

The typical range at this station is 0.09m to 0.64m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.64m 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 →