This gauge is tidally influenced — levels rise and fall with each tide, so rapid changes here
are normal and don't necessarily indicate flooding.
(27m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 211 views
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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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Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on
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A 32.77 reading (7 Mar 2022) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
ⓘ
Flood alert
Climping Seafront
High tides on Saturday may lead to flooding.
Flooding is possible for 2 hours either side of Saturday evening's tide at 23:00 on 24/10/2026.
Storm Boelo could cause overtopping of the beach, affecting Climping Street Car Park. A small amount of water may then flow or be directed westwards along Mill Lane towards residential property in Climping Street. This event will increase tide table values by 0.26 m. Total forecast tide is 5.87 metres Chart Datum (2.82 mAOD) at Littlehampton. Strong Westerly Force 7 wind. Similar conditions will be experienced until 27th October. Sunday's tide at 11:15 on 25/10/2026 is forecast to be 10 cm lower (2.72 mAOD).
We are closely monitoring the situation . We routinely check the condition of the beach at Climping.
Consider activating any flood protection products you may have. Access could be restricted. Take care if visiting Climping beach.
This message will be updated by 6:00PM on Sunday 25 October or as the situation changes.
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.
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.
26 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 3.4 km away along the river. 4 report discharging now, 20 report not discharging, and for 2 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
Southern Water · into Freshwater River · 5.2 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
20 spills · 25 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. Sewage & storm overflows →
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 Littlehampton flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 24 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
Is the River Arun at Littlehampton flooding today?
The latest recorded level is -1.24m. 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 Littlehampton?
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 0.0mm 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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