WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for River Avon at Lilbourne in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
River Avon at Lilbourne is a gauged river in England.
Temperate rivers like this one usually run highest in late winter and spring, then ease down through summer. Here, the seasonal peak comes in January at 0.46 m (1.5 ft), while the seasonal low falls in July at 0.13 m (0.44 ft). That 32.5 cm (12.8 in) swing is the part a dock, pump, or bank-side intake has to live with from one season to the next.
For a cottage or farm user, that means the winter waterline can sit notably higher than the summer one, even in an ordinary year. The river does not stay at one level for long; it moves through a regular annual range that matters when you plan access, pump placement, or angling conditions.
The highest level in the record is 1.93 m (6.33 ft) in December 1981. The lowest is 0.06 m (0.2 ft) in October 2017. Those two marks show the spread this reach has already seen: from very low water to a much higher river in the same gauge record.
With 50 years on record, the station gives a useful long view. That length of record is what makes the seasonal pattern and the extremes worth watching together. A single high reading is one thing; seeing how it compares with the usual January level, or how far it sits above the summer low, is what helps you judge whether conditions are routine or drifting toward something more unusual.
The hero number on this page is best read against the median for the same calendar day, not as a raw height on its own. A level by itself tells you where the water sits at that moment, but the day-of-year median tells you whether it is high, low, or ordinary for this station’s normal cycle.
That is the practical view for the Environment Agency gauge here: compare today’s reading with what this river usually does on this date, then decide what that means for banks, access, and water use.
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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