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0.19

Low Nibthwaite

Crake
South Cumbria catchment • Blawith • Westmorland and Furness • ID: 737537 • Level
(29m ago) • 2 readings/hr • 126 views

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Current Level
0.188 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.192 m
24h Min
0.188 m
Typical Range
0.18 - 0.95
m
Highest Recorded
1.70 m
EA official record
1.68 in our data (since Jan 1976)
Current level is 11% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 6h
23 Aug 23:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.188 m
23 Aug 22:45 ▬ steady 0.189 m
23 Aug 21:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.189 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.188 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.188 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.189 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.188 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.189 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.190 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.188 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.189 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.188 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.188 m
23 Aug 18:45 ▬ steady 0.188 m
23 Aug 18:30 ▬ steady 0.188 m
23 Aug 18:15 ▬ steady 0.188 m
23 Aug 18:00 ▬ steady 0.188 m
23 Aug 17:45 ▬ steady 0.188 m
23 Aug 17:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.188 m
23 Aug 17:15 0.189 m

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 7 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 2.7 km away).

8flood warnings 253flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 17 Dec 2025River Crake Valley

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 2
2025 3 15
2024 2 19
2023 0 20
2022 0 10
2021 2 11
2020 0 12
2019 0 12
2018 0 4
2017 1 12
2016 0 5
2015 0 13
2014 0 2
2013 0 6
2012 0 9
2011 0 6
2010 0 8
2009 0 11
2008 0 27
2007 0 26
2006 0 23

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 Blawith flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Station Reference: 737537
  • EA Gauge ID: 737537-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 2 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: South Cumbria
  • Typical Range: 0.180 – 0.950 m
  • Drainage Area: 73 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.19 m (EA at 23 Aug 22:45)
  • Flow Archive: National River Flow Archive ↗

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

🌊 Steep & flashy Steep catchment sheds rain quickly — expect fast, sharp rises after heavy rain.

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
0.36
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
2,296 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +7% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.1%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
21.33 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
43.10 m³/s
19 Nov 2009
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 4.3111.703.110.6025% (high)% of days exceeded95% (low)
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 18%Grassland 70%Arable 1%Heath/scrub 2%Urban 1%Other 8%
Woodland 21% → 18% since 1990

Flow affected by: surface-water abstraction, public water supply.

Photos

Gauging-station photographs from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).

Photos © NRFA / UKCEH & the measuring authority — shown at web resolution. Full gallery on the NRFA ↗

About this gauge

Velocity area station in stone walled channel with non-standard shallow V structure. Peak flows are attenuated by Coniston Water.

More detail

The catchment

Geology predominantly impervious Silurian Slates with thin Carboniferous Coal Measures with a band of Boulder Clay over centre. Catchment with mountains in the north supporting rough pasture and moorland, remainder grassland. Rural apart from Coniston village. No significant catchment changes.

The station

Station opened in 1962 with unstable rubble weir, replaced with Flat V control in August 1963. Stone walled channel approx 10m wide. Straight approach for approx 50m, slight right hand curve downstream. Bed is of slate and stones.

How it measures flow

Extreme flows are out of bank and the channel surges badly in high flow. Cableway removed 2002/2003. Station was re-instrumented and metricated in 1970 with associated change in datum. Multiple ratings across period of record. Flood Studies Report grade A1. Lowest flows unreliable. Bankfull 1.1m on left bank, 1.2m on right bank.

Flow regime

Headwater abstractions are used for public water supply. Peak flows are attenuated by Coniston Water.

The flow record

Flows before Oct-1968 are rejected should be treated with caution. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in August 2021 (WINFAP Files v10).

Descriptions from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH). NRFA station record ↗

Gauge Details

How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).

Gauge type
Gauging structure
Operating since
1963
Station datum
38.6 mAOD
Flow record
1963–2024 · 61 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1962
Hydrometric area
73
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Crake at Low Nibthwaite flooding today?

The current level is 0.19m, which is within the typical range of 0.18 to 0.95m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Low Nibthwaite?

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.

What is a normal level for the River Crake at Low Nibthwaite?

The typical range at this station is 0.18m to 0.95m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.95m 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:

Check any UK postcode’s flood risk →

🏠 Buying or renting around here? Get the Property Flood-Risk Report for any English postcode — official risk band, floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →