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⤴Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.
You'll be notified when a new storm-overflow (sewage) discharge starts within ~3 km of this gauge, based on the water companies' near-real-time feeds.
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Current Level
1.087 mAOD
▲ Rising (+59cm/hr)
24h Max
1.412 mAOD
24h Min
-0.771 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
3.04 mAOD
EA official record
A 6.64 reading (11 Aug 2020) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
ⓘ
Flood alert
The Suffolk coast from Lowestoft to Bawdsey
High tides tomorrow morning may lead to flooding.
Flooding is possible from 8:30am to 10:30am on Saturday 10th October.
We expect to see high water levels in Lake Lothing in Lowestoft, as well as high sea levels along the Suffolk Coast, impacting on beach access points. The detailed forecast is for a peak level at Lowestoft of 1.72 mAODN at 9:30am on Saturday 10th October, which is 0.51m above tide tables, Wind Force 6, Westerly. No further high tides are currently expected over the coming days.
We are closely monitoring the situation .
Avoid coastal roads, footpaths and carparks, which may be flooded.
This message will be updated by 11:00AM on Saturday 10 October or as the situation changes.
High tides overnight may lead to flooding.
Flooding is possible on consecutive tides from 11pm on Friday 9th October through to 1am on Saturday 10th October.
Tide levels will be high around the boat yard in Felixstowe Ferry hamlet at the end of Ferry Road, and along riverside areas in Woodbridge and Waldringfield, as well as in surrounding marshland. The detailed forecast is for a peak level at Harwich of 2.60mAODN at 12am, on Saturday 10th October, which is 0.5m above tide tables, Wind Force 6, Westerly. Tides will remain high over the next couple of days.
We are closely monitoring the situation .
Avoid coastal roads, footpaths and carparks, which may be flooded.
This message will be updated by 9:00AM on Saturday 10 October or as the situation changes.
Experimental model fusing soil moisture, river flow, groundwater and catchment
character. The shaded band is its 10–90% range, widened so that about 80% of recent outcomes fall inside it.
Under evaluation — not yet promoted, so treat as a second opinion.
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.
5 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge. 0 report discharging now, 5 report not discharging.
Anglian Water · into River Ore · upstream (distance along the river not measured)
25 spills · 74 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 →
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 Orford flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 3 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
Is the Suffolk Coast at Orford Ness flooding today?
The latest recorded level is 1.09m. Compare it with the recent history on the chart above to judge whether levels are unusually high.
Is the river level rising or falling at Orford Ness?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently rising. 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 2.5mm 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.
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:
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