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Home › Rivers › River Cocker

River Cocker water levels

Live levels from 3 monitoring stations across Cumberland, updated every 15 minutes.

3stations
0above typical high

Gauges

Monitoring stations, source to mouth

StationTownLevel nowStatusTrend
Scalehill Upper Lorton ValleyLoweswater0.64 m 1h agoNormal—
8.7 km by river
Southwaite BridgeCockermouth0.54 m 1h agoNormal—
4.0 km by river
South Street FootbridgeCockermouth1.06 m 1h agoNormal—

Stations are listed from source to mouth as the water flows, traced on the river map (OS Open Rivers) and the Environment Agency’s own links between its gauges. A distance “by river” is along the river, and is shown only where the map traces the path.

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Gauged tributaries

Streams and rivers with a gauge whose water joins the Cocker above one of its gauges, from the source down. Named streams without a gauge that have a page here are listed at the end.

No gauged tributary joins the Cocker above South Street Footbridge on the river map. Streams without a gauge are not counted here.

Where the Cocker goes

Below South Street Footbridge, its water next reaches Kingfisher, Cockermouth, a gauge on River Derwent, 750 m by river downstream.

Tributaries and where they join are traced on the river map (OS Open Rivers, edition 2026-04) and the Environment Agency’s links between its gauges. The map holds distances between gauges, not the junctions themselves, so a junction is placed between two gauges, and no further up than the tributary’s own lowest gauge. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Streams without a gauge

Named streams on the river map that flow into the Cocker and have no gauge of their own. Each has a page with what is known about it: the next gauge downstream, and any storm overflows or water-sampling points placed on it.

  • Sandy Beck (joins about 1.1 km above Southwaite Bridge)
  • Tom Rudd Beck (joins about 260 m above South Street Footbridge)
  • Whit Beck (joins about 4.4 km above Southwaite Bridge)

Storm overflows upstream

2 storm overflows are traced upstream of South Street Footbridge, the Cocker’s lowest gauge on the river map: on the Cocker itself, on its gauged tributaries, and on smaller streams that join above there.

  • 0 report discharging now
  • 2 not discharging
  • 0 offline or silent: 0 monitor offline, 0 status unknown, 0 no live feed

Official figures for 2025, for the overflows traced upstream of South Street Footbridge: 10 spills over 19 hours in total, across all 2.

Each overflow is listed in the stretch above the first gauge its water reaches, from the source down, as on the Gauges tab. A stretch of the Cocker includes the smaller streams that join it there.

Between Scalehill Upper Lorton Valley and Southwaite Bridge1 overflow
  • Lorton STW Not discharging
    United Utilities · into River Cocker · 2.9 km by river above Southwaite Bridge · 2025: 10 spills, 19 h
Between Southwaite Bridge and South Street Footbridge1 overflow
  • Vicarage Lane CSO 022wd Not discharging
    United Utilities · into Tom Rudd Beck · 920 m by river above South Street Footbridge · 2025: 0 spills, 0 h

5 other overflows within 3 km of these gauges are placed below the Cocker’s lowest gauge or on another river, so not listed.

A status is the water company’s own monitor: it says whether an overflow is discharging, never how much or why, and a spill does not by itself explain a change in a river level. A status older than two hours is shown as unknown. Annual figures are the official returns: 12/24-hour spills for England and Wales, overflow events for Scotland (Scottish Water counts differently, so the two cannot be compared). “No data” means the monitor produced no usable data that year, not zero. Overflows are placed on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels: an overflow the map cannot place may still drain here. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026. Sewage in Britain’s rivers →

Live status: © United Utilities storm overflow activity data, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Annual figures for England: Environment Agency Event Duration Monitoring return, © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Water samples

Dated samples taken by the Environment Agency, not live readings. Results are published days to months after the sample is taken, and many points are sampled only a few times a year, or have not been sampled for years.

25 sampling points on the River Cocker and the streams that join it above South Street Footbridge. 7 have a sample from the last 12 months; 10 have any sample banked. Listed from the source down, grouped by the next gauge each one's water reaches.

Above Scalehill Upper Lorton Valley River Cocker 12 points, 4 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Above the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Gatesgarthdale Beck downstream of Buttermere Green Slate QuarryGatesgarthdale Beck13 kmLast sampled 27 Feb 2008, before the imported period
Gatesgarthdale Beck at GatesgarthGatesgarthdale Beck8.9 kmLast sampled 21 Aug 2006, before the imported period
Warnscale Beck at NY189 148Warnscale Beck8.8 km7 Jul 2026 · 3 months agoOxygen 101.8%Temp 14.9 °CpH 7.31Ammonia 0.0021 mg/l
Sourmilk Gill at Buttermereunnamed stream6.2 km2 Feb 2026 · 8 months agoOxygen 97.9%Temp 4.6 °CpH 7.02Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Mosedale Beck near Hen CombMosedale Beck6.2 kmLast sampled 9 Feb 2023, before the imported period
Dub Beck at Waterend, LoweswaterDub Beck5.7 kmLast sampled 3 Mar 2020, before the imported period
At NY137190Mosedale Beck5.2 km15 Sep 2026 · 23 days agoOxygen 101.9%Temp 13.9 °CpH 6.14Ammonia below 0.002 mg/l
Holme Beck above the confluence with LoweswaterHolme Beck4.9 kmLast sampled 14 Jan 2019, before the imported period
Dub Beck at Ny 132 212Dub Beck3.7 kmLast sampled 14 Jan 2019, before the imported period
Dub Beck at NY134210 Maggies BridgeDub Beck3.4 kmLast sampled 19 Feb 2015, before the imported period
Mosedale Beck at Maggies BridgeMosedale Beck3.1 km4 Mar 2024 · 2.6 years agoOxygen 99%Temp 6.3 °CpH 7.46Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Dub Beck above the confluence with LoweswaterPark Beck1.5 kmLast sampled 13 Apr 2000, before the imported period
Above Southwaite Bridge River Cocker 9 points, 3 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Above the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
River Cocker at GodferheadRiver Cocker8.7 km16 Dec 2025 · 10 months agoOxygen 98.3%Temp 8.2 °CpH 6.69Ammonia 0.0037 mg/l
Liza BeckLiza Beck7.6 kmLast sampled 26 Oct 2006, before the imported period
Hope BeckHope Beck6.2 kmLast sampled 26 Oct 2006, before the imported period
Whit Beck at Whit Beck BridgeWhit Beck5.6 km4 Mar 2024 · 2.6 years agoOxygen 99.5%Temp 7 °CpH 8.18Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
River Cocker at LortonRiver Cocker4.0 kmLast sampled 28 Sep 2015, before the imported period
Sandy Beck upstream (10 m downstream of Aikbank Mill)Sandy Beck3.7 kmLast sampled 9 Oct 2003, before the imported period
Sandy Beck downstream (off Brandlingill Bridge)Sandy Beck3.0 kmLast sampled 9 Oct 2003, before the imported period
Tributary of Sandy BeckSandy Beck1.7 km16 Jul 2026 · 3 months agoOxygen 96.9% Jun 2026Temp 14.9 °C Jun 2026pH 7.58 Jun 2026Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l Jun 2026
Sandy Beck at Sandybeck BridgeSandy Beck1.6 kmLast sampled 3 Mar 2010, before the imported period
Above South Street Footbridge River Cocker 4 points, 3 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Above the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Tom Rudd Beck at BeckhouseTom Rudd Beck6.0 km11 Dec 2023 · 2.8 years agoOxygen 77.6%Temp 6.1 °CpH 7.14Ammonia 0.0035 mg/l
At Cockermouth CemetaryTom Rudd Beck1.3 km11 Sep 2026 · 27 days agoOxygen 99.5%Temp 13.5 °CpH 7.85Ammonia 0.007 mg/l
Tom Rudd Beck at NY1253 3035Tom Rudd Beck0.6 kmLast sampled 27 Apr 2017, before the imported period
River Cocker at CockermouthRiver Cocker0.2 km8 May 2026 · 5 months agoOxygen 109.9%Temp 14 °CpH 7.83Ammonia 0.01 mg/l

Distances are along the river to the gauge named. England's samples only.

FloodRadar does not grade these results: there is no overall score, and official river classifications are a separate dataset. A sample taken downstream of an overflow does not by itself show where anything in it came from. River connections and distances are traced on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels.

Water samples: Environment Agency Water Quality Archive, © Environment Agency and/or database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Wave tracker for this river → Cumberland rivers → All UK rivers