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⚠ No recent data · last reading 1d ago
0.08

Marham

Nar
North West Norfolk catchment • Marham • Norfolk • ID: E23705 • Level
(1d ago) • 4 readings/hr • 224 views

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Last Level
0.077 m
⚠ 1d ago · may be out of date
24h Max
0.089 m
24h Min
0.077 m
Typical Range
0.10 - 0.32
m
Highest Recorded
0.66 m
EA official record
A 0.77 reading (25 Feb 1969) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.4 cm over 5h
07 Oct 01:45 ▬ steady 0.077 m
07 Oct 01:30 ▬ steady 0.077 m
07 Oct 01:15 ▬ steady 0.077 m
07 Oct 01:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.077 m
07 Oct 00:45 ▬ steady 0.078 m
07 Oct 00:30 ▬ steady 0.078 m
07 Oct 00:15 ▬ steady 0.078 m
07 Oct 00:00 ▬ steady 0.078 m
06 Oct 23:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.078 m
06 Oct 23:30 ▬ steady 0.079 m
06 Oct 23:15 ▬ steady 0.079 m
06 Oct 23:00 ▬ steady 0.079 m
06 Oct 22:45 ▬ steady 0.079 m
06 Oct 22:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.079 m
06 Oct 22:15 ▬ steady 0.080 m
06 Oct 22:00 ▬ steady 0.080 m
06 Oct 21:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.080 m
06 Oct 21:30 ▬ steady 0.081 m
06 Oct 21:15 ▬ steady 0.081 m
06 Oct 21:00 0.081 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Marham
  • Watercourse: River Nar
  • Nearest Town: Marham
  • County: Norfolk
  • Coordinates: 52°40'41"N 0°32'53"E (52.678061, 0.547924)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 4 Oct 1979
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E23705
  • RLOI id: 6288 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E23705-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 1 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~27 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: North West Norfolk
  • Typical Range: 0.097 – 0.317 m
  • Drainage Area: 153 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: 0.08 m (EA at 7 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 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.

💧
Anglian Water · into Ketlam Drain River Nar Nt · 1.8 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
4 spills · 29 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

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 0.32 m on about 28 days. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 0 days
2024 86 days
2023 8 days
2022 0 days
2021 105 days
2020 29 days
2019 2 days
2018 20 days
2017 3 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 0.59 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2020 for the 2 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 6.5 km away).

4flood warnings 0flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 22 Feb 2024 — River Nar at Narborough, Marham, Wormegay and Saddle Bow

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2024 3 0
2020 1 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 Marham flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 2 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
0.80
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
729 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +6% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.6%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
3.62 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
7.00 m³/s
12 Feb 1977 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 1.092.410.9060.3665% (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 10%Grassland 28%Arable 60%Urban 2%
Arable 78% → 60% since 1990

Flow affected by: public water supply, groundwater abstraction, effluent returns, 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

Critical depth flume measuring Chalk catchment with predominantly agricultural land use.

More detail

The catchment

Chalk catchment overlain by Boulder Clay in upper reaches. Agricultural land use, predominantly arable.

The station

Round nosed horizontal crest weir (7.13m wide). Prior to April 1982, low flow flume in centre making structure 7.47m wide (now sealed off).

How it measures flow

Weed growth can be a problem during summer if not cut regularly. Level measurements taken just upstream of weir. Two peak flow ratings applied across period of record. Modular limit is estimated at 6 cumecs and is accounted for in the current rating.

Flow regime

Surface water abstraction for PWS immediately u/s of station. Also surface/groundwater abstraction in catchment for industry/agriculture. Three small underground abstractions were abandoned in 1986. Effluent returns may increase runoff.

The flow record

Anomalous summer flows in June 2004 and August 2006, resulting from locals damming the weir. Peak flows derived from flume (pre-1982) are rejected as they do not form a historically consistent record with the weir data. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in October 2018 (WINFAP Files v7) and August 2025 (WINFAP v14).

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
1953
Station datum
4.6 mAOD
Flow record
1953–2024 · 71 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1953
Hydrometric area
33
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Nar at Marham flooding today?

The current level is 0.08m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Marham?

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 Nar at Marham?

The typical range at this station is 0.10m to 0.32m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.32m 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 →