WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for Belford Burn at Belford in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
Belford Burn is a gauged river in England.
This station has 16 years of record, so the monthly pattern is based on a modest but useful run of observations. The highest level on file is 1.08 m (3.54 ft), reached in March 2010. The lowest is 0.07 m (0.24 ft), reached in July 2009. For anyone drawing water, setting a pump, or fishing from the bank, that spread is the part to notice: this reach has shown a wide range between low summer water and the higher conditions that can arrive in late winter or early spring.
The typical annual swing is 10.3 cm (4.1 in). That is not a flood record or a drought record; it is the usual up-and-down range the station has seen across the year. The monthly pattern fits a temperate river: the highest typical month is December at 0.21 m (0.68 ft), while the lowest typical month is July at 0.1 m (0.34 ft). That means the river is generally fuller in the colder months and leaner in midsummer.
With no watershed name given here, the safest reading is to stay with the river itself. Belford Burn is a small gauged river, and the record suggests a reach that can change enough to matter at a crossing, a bank-side intake, or a fixed fishing spot. The difference between 0.21 m (0.68 ft) in December and 0.1 m (0.34 ft) in July is enough to alter depth at the margin, even when the river is still within its usual seasonal range.
The record high in March 2010 and the low in July 2009 also show that the river can reach its extremes outside the same month in different years. That is useful for planning: do not assume the same month always behaves the same way.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading against the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because it tells you where the river stands for this date, not just where the sensor sits in the vertical scale.
This station is run by the Environment Agency.
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
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