WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for River Tern at Walcot in England, United Kingdom, built from official government gauge data.
River Tern at Walcot is a gauged river in England.
The station has 50 years of record, and that is enough to see how far this river can move. The highest level in the file is 2.68 m (8.81 ft) in January 2024. The lowest is 0.12 m (0.4 ft) in September 1978. For a landowner or angler, that spread matters more than any single reading: banks, moorings, and shallow margins are not asking the same thing in winter as they are in late summer.
The seasonal pattern is modest but clear. The highest typical month is January, at 0.66 m (2.16 ft). The lowest is July, at 0.39 m (1.29 ft). The typical annual swing is 26.7 cm (10.5 in). That tells you the river usually changes by a small amount through the year, but the record also shows it can jump well beyond the usual range.
No watershed name is given for this page, so the useful frame is this reach of the River Tern itself. In temperate hydrology, the main rise is usually tied to winter and spring runoff, while summer tends toward lower water. That matches the monthly pattern here: January sits above July in the typical record.
For someone living beside the river, the practical message is simple. January is the month to watch for higher water at the bank, while July is the month when shallow water is more likely to matter for access, habitat, and any intake set low in the channel. The record low in September 1978 is a reminder that late-season low water can persist beyond mid-summer.
The hero number on this page compares today’s level with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation because a level of 0.66 m (2.16 ft) means something different in January than it does in July.
This station is published by the Environment Agency. With 50 years of record behind it, the daily median gives a fairer sense of whether the river is running high, low, or close to its usual state for the date.
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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