WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for River Aire at Cottingley Bridge in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
River Aire at Cottingley Bridge is a gauged river in England.
The station has more than 30 years of record, so the pattern here is long enough to show both extremes and the usual seasonal range.
The highest level in the record is 2.57 m (8.44 ft), reached in December 2015. The lowest level is 0.2 m (0.65 ft), reached in June 2010. That span matters for anyone watching a bank, a low intake, or a landing place: the river has moved from a shallow summer minimum to a much higher winter peak in the same record.
The usual seasonal shape is clear. January is the highest month, at 0.66 m (2.16 ft). June is the lowest month, at 0.34 m (1.11 ft). The typical annual swing is 32.2 cm (12.7 in). For a river user, that is the shift a dock, bank access, or pump setup has to handle over the year.
No watershed name is given for this station, so the record here should be read as a gauge on this reach of the Aire, not as a statement about a larger basin.
The seasonal pattern fits temperate hydrology: higher water in winter and lower water in early summer. In practice, that means January tends to be the fuller month, while June tends to be the leanest. For anglers, that changes how much edge cover and shallow margin is available. For cottagers and farmers near the bank, it changes how much freeboard and working room there is beside the water.
The hero number on this page is best read against the median for the same calendar day, not against a raw elevation by itself. A level can look high in metres and still be ordinary for this date, or look modest and still be near the top of the local range.
That comparison is the useful one for daily decisions because it tells you where the river sits relative to its own record for this time of year. It is the kind of check the Environment Agency uses to make a reading meaningful over time, especially at a station with more than 30 years on record.
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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