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0.37

Portinscale

Derwent
Derwent West Cumbria and Duddon catchment • Portinscale • Cumberland • ID: 751007 • Level
(31m ago) • 3 readings/hr • 182 views

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Current Level
0.369 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.383 m
24h Min
0.369 m
Typical Range
0.31 - 1.33
m
Highest Recorded
4.27 m
19 Nov 2009
Since Jan 1976
Current level is 9% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.4 cm over 6h
23 Aug 23:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.369 m
23 Aug 23:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.370 m
23 Aug 22:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.369 m
23 Aug 21:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.370 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.371 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.370 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.370 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.371 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.371 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.372 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.370 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.372 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.372 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.371 m
23 Aug 18:45 ▬ steady 0.372 m
23 Aug 18:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.372 m
23 Aug 18:15 ▬ steady 0.371 m
23 Aug 18:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.371 m
23 Aug 17:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.372 m
23 Aug 17:30 0.373 m

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2008 for the 14 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.7 km away).

11severe warnings 204flood warnings 350flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 28 Feb 2026Keswick Campsite

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 3 19
2025 0 10 20
2024 0 9 20
2023 0 15 17
2022 0 8 14
2021 0 13 17
2020 0 20 15
2019 0 14 20
2018 0 6 10
2017 0 10 21
2016 0 6 16
2015 11 27 24
2014 0 7 13
2013 0 5 16
2012 0 8 20
2011 0 9 16
2010 0 8 14
2009 0 15 24
2008 0 11 34

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 Portinscale flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Portinscale
  • Watercourse: River Derwent
  • Nearest Town: Portinscale
  • County: Cumberland
  • Coordinates: 54°36'16"N 3°9'34"W (54.604556, -3.159541)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1976
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 751007
  • EA Gauge ID: 751007-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: Derwent West Cumbria and Duddon
  • Typical Range: 0.307 – 1.327 m
  • Drainage Area: 235 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.37 m (EA at 23 Aug 23:15)
  • 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
0.41
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
2,534 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +7% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.3%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
105 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
299 m³/s
5 Dec 2015
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 12.2838.507.401.355% (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 10%Grassland 76%Arable 1%Heath/scrub 9%Urban 1%Other 4%

Flow affected by: surface-water abstraction.

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 located between Derwent and Bassenthwaite lakes.

More detail

The catchment

Geology mainly Borrowdale Volcanic series with Skiddaw Slates in the north and igneous intrusions east of Keswick (e.g. Castlehead Dolorite, St.John's and Threlkeld Microgranite). Boulder Clay overlies geology within the valleys of the north, with peat within the upland areas. Land-use mainly grasslands along river valley with the remainder heather and moorland. Catchment rises to the summit of Helvellyn. No catchment changes known.

The station

Opened December 1971 as a velocity area station located between Derwent (upstream) and Bassenthwaite (downstream) lakes. Non-standard shallow V weir installed in March 1993.

How it measures flow

Initially, a mobile gravel shoal immediately downstream acted as a control, with bank stability provided by wooden shuttering. This was not stable and a trench-piled non-standard shallow V weir was installed in March 1993 with bank stability provided by stone embankments. The station may be bypassed a little before the bankfull level at the station - roughly, a little above QMED. Bypassing is significant in the larger floods. Station has permanent cableway. Shifting ratings particularly at the low end. Results also appear reasonable in relation to Ouse Bridge downstream, allowing for attenuation. Mean daily flows have multiple ratings before weir construction, one thereafter. For peak flows, ratings simplified to separate (though similar) ratings before and after weir construction. Rated inbank by current meter to approximately 2.6m and out of bank by hydraulic model. Significant out-of-bank flow and hysteresis at the very largest events. Two peak flow ratings across period of record.

Flow regime

Regime affected by controlled releases from Derwent Water and spill and controlled releases from Thirlmere reservoir.

The flow record

No data after the 5th December 2015 due to rating changes during/following storm Desmond. Re-rating following temporary closure ongoing. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in August 2024 (WINFAP Files v13).

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
Velocity–area
Operating since
1972
Station datum
72.6 mAOD
Flow record
1972–2015 · 43 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1971
Hydrometric area
75
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Derwent at Portinscale flooding today?

The current level is 0.37m, which is within the typical range of 0.31 to 1.33m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Portinscale?

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 0.0mm 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 Derwent at Portinscale?

The typical range at this station is 0.31m to 1.33m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.33m 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 →