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🌊 Tide going out · low water in ~2h

Southwold

Tide 🌊 Tidal
England - East Coast catchment • Southwold • Suffolk • ID: E42196 • Level
This gauge is tidally influenced — levels rise and fall with each tide, so rapid changes here are normal and don't necessarily indicate flooding.
(26m ago) • 2 readings/hr • 147 views

Set water level alerts

Get notified about Southwold — tick as many as you like, they all share the notify settings below.

You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 mAOD/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.

Each one is saved as its own alert — pause or remove them individually any time.

Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on EA/SEPA data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
0.117 mAOD
▼ Falling (-24cm/hr)
24h Max
0.747 mAOD
24h Min
-0.440 mAOD
Typical Range
-
Highest Recorded
3.75 mAOD
30 Oct 2025
Since Feb 2016
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Flood predictions aren't generated for tidal gauges — their levels are driven by the tide, not by catchment rainfall, so the forecast models would have no skill here.

Recent Readings

Falling · -26 cm over 6h
23 Aug 23:00 ▼▼ -6 cm 0.117 mAOD
23 Aug 22:45 ▼▼ -31 cm 0.177 mAOD
23 Aug 21:30 ▼▼ -6 cm 0.484 mAOD
23 Aug 21:15 ▼ -5 cm 0.539 mAOD
23 Aug 21:00 ▼ -4 cm 0.588 mAOD
23 Aug 20:45 ▼ -4 cm 0.630 mAOD
23 Aug 20:30 ▼ -2 cm 0.671 mAOD
23 Aug 20:15 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.688 mAOD
23 Aug 20:00 ▼ -0.6 cm 0.693 mAOD
23 Aug 19:45 ▲ +0.5 cm 0.699 mAOD
23 Aug 19:30 ▲ +1 cm 0.694 mAOD
23 Aug 19:15 ▲ +2 cm 0.681 mAOD
23 Aug 19:00 ▲ +4 cm 0.658 mAOD
23 Aug 18:45 ▲ +3 cm 0.623 mAOD
23 Aug 18:30 ▲ +4 cm 0.592 mAOD
23 Aug 18:15 ▲ +4 cm 0.554 mAOD
23 Aug 18:00 ▲ +5 cm 0.512 mAOD
23 Aug 17:45 ▲ +4 cm 0.463 mAOD
23 Aug 17:30 ▲ +5 cm 0.421 mAOD
23 Aug 17:15 0.373 mAOD

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2007 for the 7 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.5 km away).

4severe warnings 57flood warnings 184flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 4 Oct 2025The Suffolk coast at Southwold

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 0 3
2025 0 2 13
2024 0 7 23
2023 0 7 16
2022 0 5 19
2021 0 2 7
2020 0 2 14
2019 0 1 9
2018 0 0 6
2017 2 8 17
2016 0 1 7
2015 0 4 7
2014 0 2 3
2013 2 10 10
2012 0 2 6
2011 0 2 9
2010 0 0 8
2009 0 1 6
2008 0 0 1
2007 0 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 Southwold flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Southwold
  • Watercourse: Tide
  • Nearest Town: Southwold
  • County: Suffolk
  • Coordinates: 52°18'57"N 1°40'12"E (52.315823, 1.670054)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Mar 1992
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: Tidal / coastal station
  • Station Reference: E42196
  • EA Gauge ID: E42196-level-tidal_level-i-15_min-mAOD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mAOD
  • Typical rise rate: 44 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: 🌊 Yes — levels follow the tide
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: England - East Coast
  • EA Cross-check: 0.18 mAOD (EA at 23 Aug 22:45)

Geographic coordinates may reflect the access point for the gauge, and not the precise location in the watercourse that it is taking readings from.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Tide at Southwold flooding today?

The latest recorded level is 0.12m. 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 Southwold?

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

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 →