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You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 mASD/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.
You'll be notified when a new storm-overflow (sewage) discharge starts within ~3 km of this gauge, based on the water companies' near-real-time feeds.
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Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on
EA/SEPA data and are best-efforts. Terms
Current Level
-0.026 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.010 mASD
24h Min
-0.026 mASD
Typical Range
-0.25 - 0.80
mASD
Highest Recorded
3.91 mASD
16 Mar 2013
Since Nov 2012
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
Flood predictions aren't generated for
lock / structure gauges —
their levels are driven by gate operation,
not by catchment rainfall, so the forecast models would have no skill here.
River Flow
90 days
Daily mean discharge (m³/s) with the daily min–max band, from the EA Hydrology API. Flow is the volume of water passing the gauge — often a more direct flood signal than level.
Downstream level
7 days
The level on the DOWNSTREAM side of this lock/weir structure — a separate EA
measure from the main (upstream) reading shown on the Current tab. Threshold bands
are computed from this gauge's own downstream history.
Long Term
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
—
Consecutive rainy days0 → 10+
Days Above Normal
This year vs 5-year monthly range
Recent Readings
Falling · -2 cm over 6h
24 Aug 00:00▬ steady-0.026 mASD
23 Aug 23:45▬ steady-0.025 mASD
23 Aug 23:30▼ -0.1 cm-0.025 mASD
23 Aug 23:15▼ -0.1 cm-0.024 mASD
23 Aug 23:00▬ steady-0.023 mASD
23 Aug 22:45▼ -0.4 cm-0.023 mASD
23 Aug 21:30▼ -0.1 cm-0.019 mASD
23 Aug 21:15▬ steady-0.018 mASD
23 Aug 21:00▬ steady-0.018 mASD
23 Aug 20:45▬ steady-0.017 mASD
23 Aug 20:30▼ -0.2 cm-0.017 mASD
23 Aug 20:15▬ steady-0.015 mASD
23 Aug 20:00▬ steady-0.015 mASD
23 Aug 19:45▼ -0.1 cm-0.014 mASD
23 Aug 19:30▬ steady-0.013 mASD
23 Aug 19:15▼ -0.2 cm-0.013 mASD
23 Aug 19:00▬ steady-0.011 mASD
23 Aug 18:45▬ steady-0.011 mASD
23 Aug 18:30▼ -0.1 cm-0.010 mASD
23 Aug 18:15-0.009 mASD
Rainfall & Weather
Loading rainfall and weather data...
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2021 for the 9 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.5 km away).
Warnings apply to a whole flood area, not necessarily this exact spot. Years before 2006 aren't covered by the EA's historic record.
See also the Redbourn flood history.
Geographic coordinates may reflect the access point for the gauge, and not the precise location in the watercourse that it is taking readings from.
Catchment Character
🌊 Mixed responseA balance of quick runoff and slower groundwater baseflow.
Your catchment is all the land that drains rainfall into the river above this gauge. Its character — how
steep, wet, wooded, urban or chalky that land is — decides how fast rain here turns into a rising river. A steep, bare or clay
catchment is “flashy” (rises and falls quickly, floods easily); a flat, chalk or well-wooded one is
slow and steady. The tiles below put numbers to that; the flow-duration curve reads left-to-right
from the river’s typical high flows (Q5) down to its low flows (Q95) — a steep curve means a flashy river.
The physical character of the land that drains to this gauge, and how it shapes its flood response — from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).
Baseflow Index
0.64
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
739 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
9.2%
partly urbanised
Highest Recorded Flow
0.821 m³/s
18 Jun 2021
Flow-Duration Curve
Daily flow (m³/s) exceeded each % of the time — a steep curve is flashy, a flat one is steady. Q5 high · Q50 median · Q95 low.
Land Cover (2023)
Woodland 5%Grassland 22%Arable 58%Urban 15%
Arable 65% → 58% since 1990
Flow affected by: effluent returns.
About this gauge
Gauging station located on the upper River Ver that was initially constructed to monitor low flows.
More detail
The catchment
A predominantly rural catchment on the dip-slope of the Chilterns (Chalk); land-use is mainly arable/pasture; some urban development.
The station
Flat-V weir (4.0m wide) which frequently drowns.
How it measures flow
Upstream and downstream measurements are routinely made. Downstream reach regularly maintained by dredging which improves modularity. Built in an over wide channel which has naturally narrowed over the years. Silt berms have built up on left bank up to the weir. Downstream channel also has narrowed, during high flow events the level backs up and drowns the weir.
Flow regime
Groundwater-fed intermittent stream (but can be responsive).
The flow record
Flow data for Feb 1995 unreliable due to weed growth.
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Flat-V weir
Operating since
1993
Station datum
92.1 mAOD
Flow record
1993–2024 · 31 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
🚽 Storm overflows on this river
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Red at Redbourn flooding today?
The current level is -0.03m, which is within the typical range of -0.25 to 0.80m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Redbourn?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, updated roughly every 15 minutes.
Why is the level slowly falling?
When little or no rain has fallen for a while, a river level gradually drops as the water stored in the ground and soil drains away with nothing to replace it. This is called baseflow recession and is normal in dry spells. Only about 0.8mm of rain has fallen nearby in the last 7 days, so the flow is being sustained mainly by groundwater. A gentle decline like this is expected and is not a sign of a problem — downstream gauges often recede a little faster than headwaters further upstream, and levels recover once rain returns.
What is a normal level for the River Red at Redbourn?
The typical range at this station is -0.25m to 0.80m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.80m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.
How often is this river level data updated?
Readings are taken by the Environment Agency gauge roughly every 15 minutes and FloodRadar refreshes its data continuously, so the level shown is normally less than an hour old.
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📮 Flood risk by postcode near this gauge
Postcodes within 5 km with properties in the Environment Agency’s rivers-and-sea flood-risk bands:
