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 Ferrybridge Lock in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
River Aire at Ferrybridge Lock is a gauged river in England.
This station sits on the River Aire, and the record here gives a 30-year view of how the river moves through the seasons. In temperate hydrology, the pattern is usually strongest in spring and weakest in summer, but this reach is different: the highest month in the record is January, at 0.5 m (1.63 ft), while the lowest month is August, at 0.17 m (0.57 ft). For anyone with a bank, intake, or mooring to protect, that means summer low water is part of the routine, but winter can bring the higher levels.
The record high is 2.27 m (7.45 ft) in November 2000. The record low is -0.1 m (-0.33 ft) in September 1998. Those two marks show the range this gauge has already seen. If you use the river for access, pumping, or fishing, the practical point is simple: this reach has shown enough spread to change depth, cover, and edge conditions across the year.
The typical annual swing is 32.3 cm (12.7 in). That is the number to keep in mind for day-to-day planning, because it is the normal rise and fall the station has tracked across its record.
The River Aire at Ferrybridge Lock has more than 30 years of record behind it, so the seasonal pattern here is not a short sample. January stands as the highest typical month, August as the lowest, and that gap is the main signal for local users. A winter high does not need extra explanation on a page like this; it just tells you when the river is most likely to run fuller at this reach.
The record high in November 2000 sits well above the typical January level, and the record low in September 1998 sits below the typical August level. For cottagers and anglers, those records matter because they define the edges of experience at the gauge: how high the river has gone, how low it has fallen, and how far routine conditions usually sit from those extremes.
The hero number on this page is today’s reading compared with the median for this calendar day across the station’s record. That is more useful than raw elevation because the same level can mean something different in January than it does in August. A reading that sits above the day’s median points to a fuller-than-usual river for this date; one below it points to a lower-than-usual river for this date.
This gauge is published by the Environment Agency. With more than 30 years of record, the comparison gives a quick read on where the river sits relative to what Ferrybridge Lock usually sees today, not just where it sits in metres or feet.
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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