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0.60

Ouse Bridge

Derwent
Derwent West Cumbria and Duddon catchment • Dubwath • Cumberland • ID: 751110 • Level
(30m ago) • 2 readings/hr • 101 views

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Current Level
0.599 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.603 m
24h Min
0.596 m
Typical Range
0.44 - 2.21
m
Highest Recorded
3.89 m
EA official record
3.87 in our data (since Jan 1976)
Current level is 15% 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 0.599 m
23 Aug 22:45 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.600 m
23 Aug 21:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.597 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.599 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.598 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.599 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.598 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.598 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.598 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.598 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.599 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.598 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.599 m
23 Aug 18:45 ▬ steady 0.598 m
23 Aug 18:30 ▬ steady 0.598 m
23 Aug 18:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.598 m
23 Aug 18:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.599 m
23 Aug 17:45 ▬ steady 0.598 m
23 Aug 17:30 ▬ steady 0.598 m
23 Aug 17:15 0.598 m

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2008 for the 9 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 7.7 km away).

6severe warnings 24flood warnings 113flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 14 Dec 2025Rivers Cocker and Derwent at Cockermouth, Cricket Ground, Trout Hotel Car Park, Hatters Croft

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2025 0 4 8
2024 0 0 3
2023 0 0 6
2022 0 0 2
2021 0 4 7
2020 0 1 3
2019 0 0 6
2018 0 0 2
2017 0 1 4
2016 0 0 6
2015 5 9 13
2014 0 0 4
2013 0 0 7
2012 0 2 8
2011 0 0 5
2010 0 0 7
2009 1 1 10
2008 0 2 12

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 Dubwath flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Ouse Bridge
  • Watercourse: River Derwent
  • Nearest Town: Dubwath
  • County: Cumberland
  • Coordinates: 54°40'41"N 3°14'42"W (54.677997, -3.244950)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1975
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 751110
  • EA Gauge ID: 751110-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 3 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: 0.440 – 2.210 m
  • Drainage Area: 363 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.60 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
0.44
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
2,306 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +7% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.3%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
103 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
342 m³/s
6 Dec 2015
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 17.4553.3310.942.055% (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 11%Grassland 73%Arable 1%Heath/scrub 9%Urban 1%Other 4%

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 gauging outflows from Bassenthwaite Lake.

More detail

The catchment

An entirely rural catchment rising to the summit of Helvellyn. Entirely on impervious Lower Palaeozoic rocks supporting mainly rough pasture and moorland with deeply incised headwaters. Drift is confined to the valley floor. Catchment contains two large natural water bodies, Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake, also Thirlmere Reservoir. Entirely rural, mainly rough pasture and moorland. No catchment changes known.

The station

Velocity-area station opened March 1968. Channel 30m wide immediately downstream of Ouse Bridge itself, which is at the outlet to Bassenthwaite Lake. Station hut was originally on left bank, moved to right bank 1994/95, and rebuilt after Nov 2009 event.

How it measures flow

Low flow control is an artificial pipe about 120m downstream, close to an island which acts as a control for higher flows. Stony bank without much weed growth. Performs reasonably well at flood flows. New floodbank, 2006, constructed on right bank, raising containment level from 2.3m to 2.8m; rarely overtopped. However, the new flood bank was overtopped in the exceptional November 2009 event, which demolished the walls of the gauging hut (see photo). Station has permanent cableway. Rated by current meter to top of flood banks, with modelled rating above. Ratings applied before and after bank raising in June 2006, and after effects of November 2009, 2012 and 2015 events.

Flow regime

Derwent Water, Bassenthwaite Lake and Thirlmere Reservoir moderate flood discharges.

The flow record

Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2023 (WINFAP Files v12).

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
1968
Station datum
67.7 mAOD
Flow record
1968–2024 · 56 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1968
Hydrometric area
75
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Derwent at Ouse Bridge flooding today?

The current level is 0.60m, which is within the typical range of 0.44 to 2.21m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Ouse Bridge?

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 Derwent at Ouse Bridge?

The typical range at this station is 0.44m to 2.21m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.21m 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 →