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0.48

Tellisford

Somerset Frome
Bristol Avon Little Avon Axe and North Somerset St catchment • Tellisford • Somerset • ID: 53120 • Level
(38m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 138 views

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Current Level
0.479 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.498 m
24h Min
0.464 m
Typical Range
0.54 - 3.20
m
Highest Recorded
4.16 m
EA official record
3.91 in our data (since Nov 2012)
Current level is 12% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +1 cm over 6h
24 Aug 00:15 ▬ steady 0.479 m
24 Aug 00:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.479 m
23 Aug 23:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.480 m
23 Aug 23:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.479 m
23 Aug 23:15 ▬ steady 0.478 m
23 Aug 23:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.478 m
23 Aug 22:45 ▬ steady 0.477 m
23 Aug 22:30 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.477 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.475 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.475 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.474 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.476 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.474 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.472 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.472 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.471 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.471 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.470 m
23 Aug 18:45 ▬ steady 0.469 m
23 Aug 18:30 0.469 m

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2008 for the 8 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.9 km away).

26flood warnings 76flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 27 Jan 2025River Biss upstream and downstream of Trowbridge

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 1
2025 2 4
2024 9 13
2023 0 4
2022 0 3
2021 1 0
2020 2 4
2019 0 6
2018 1 1
2017 0 1
2016 1 3
2015 0 1
2014 2 7
2013 3 5
2012 5 13
2011 0 2
2009 0 2
2008 0 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 Tellisford flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Tellisford
  • Watercourse: Somerset Frome
  • Nearest Town: Tellisford
  • County: Somerset
  • Coordinates: 51°18'24"N 2°16'51"W (51.306790, -2.280873)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 29 Mar 1965
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 53120
  • EA Gauge ID: 53120-level-2-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 4 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Bristol Avon Little Avon Axe and North Somerset St
  • Typical Range: 0.542 – 3.200 m
  • Drainage Area: 262 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.48 m (EA at 24 Aug 00:00)
  • 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.

Catchment Character

🌊 Mixed response A balance of quick runoff and slower groundwater baseflow.

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
0.56
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,005 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
2.3%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
58.79 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
54.30 m³/s
6 Dec 1972
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 3.8513.002.150.6285% (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 13%Grassland 56%Arable 22%Urban 6%Other 3%
Grassland 69% → 56% since 1990

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

Trapezoidal critical depth flume opened in 1961. Ultrasonic gauge installed 2007.

More detail

The catchment

Predominantly limestone with impermeable clays in Frome Gap and Coal Measures in Mells Valley. Responsive catchment, however detention lakes 5 to 6km upstream may truncate peaks. Land use is predominantly rural. No major catchment changes.

The station

Station located 500m north of the village of Tellisford and was opened in 1961. Trapezoidal critical depth flume. Ultrasonic gauge installed 11/2007.

How it measures flow

Full range station. Deeply incised channel at station; all but extreme floods contained, although some over-bank upstream storage. It is believed station does not drown. Single rating based on the theoretical rating for flume. Few gaugings, most in the low flow range, high flows gauged upstream due to some bypassing. Estimated 100-year flow would be contained by structure.

Flow regime

Substantial groundwater abstractions in catchment. Detention lakes 5 to 6km upstream may truncate peaks. Pumping station upstream of gauging station. Hydro-power u/s, effects low flows.

The flow record

Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2020 (WINFAP Files v9).

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
Flume
Operating since
1961
Station datum
35.1 mAOD
Flow record
1961–2024 · 63 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1961
Hydrometric area
53
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the Somerset Frome at Tellisford flooding today?

The current level is 0.48m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Tellisford?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, updated roughly every 15 minutes.

What is a normal level for the Somerset Frome at Tellisford?

The typical range at this station is 0.54m to 3.20m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 3.20m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.

How often is this river level data updated?

Readings are taken by the Environment Agency gauge roughly every 15 minutes and FloodRadar refreshes its data continuously, so the level shown is normally less than an hour old.

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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, floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →