Wharfe and Lower Ouse catchment
• Wetherby • West Yorkshire • ID: F2004 • Level
(52m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 164 views
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Current Level
0.537 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.552 m
24h Min
0.527 m
Typical Range
0.40 - 2.60
m
Highest Recorded
3.74 m
EA official record
3.70 in our data (since Nov 1965)
Current level is 14% of this
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
Prediction V2
Prediction Eris
Nimbus beta
Experimental model fusing soil moisture, river flow, groundwater and catchment
character. Shown with its calibrated 10–90% confidence band. Under evaluation —
not yet promoted, so treat as a second opinion.
Long Term
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
—
Consecutive rainy days0 → 10+
Days Above Normal
This year vs 5-year monthly range
Recent Readings
Falling · -0.3 cm over 6h
24 Aug 00:15▬ steady0.537 m
24 Aug 00:00▬ steady0.537 m
23 Aug 23:45▼ -0.1 cm0.537 m
23 Aug 23:30▬ steady0.538 m
23 Aug 23:15▬ steady0.538 m
23 Aug 23:00▬ steady0.538 m
23 Aug 22:45▬ steady0.538 m
23 Aug 22:30▼ -0.1 cm0.538 m
23 Aug 21:15▬ steady0.539 m
23 Aug 21:00▬ steady0.539 m
23 Aug 20:45▬ steady0.539 m
23 Aug 20:30▬ steady0.539 m
23 Aug 20:15▬ steady0.539 m
23 Aug 20:00▬ steady0.539 m
23 Aug 19:45▬ steady0.539 m
23 Aug 19:30▬ steady0.539 m
23 Aug 19:15▬ steady0.539 m
23 Aug 19:00▼ -0.1 cm0.539 m
23 Aug 18:45▬ steady0.540 m
23 Aug 18:300.540 m
Rainfall & Weather
Loading rainfall and weather data...
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2011 for the 18 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.9 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 Wetherby 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
🌊 Fairly flashyResponds fairly quickly to rain, with moderate baseflow between events.
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
0.39
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,251 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +7% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.6%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
237 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
297 m³/s
20 Feb 2022
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.
Broad-crested masonry mill weir in a rural catchment with some net export of water to the Aire Valley.
More detail
The catchment
Mixed geology of moderate permeability - mainly Carboniferous Limestone, grits and Coal Measures with just under half the catchment overlain by superficial deposits. Predominantly mixed rural catchment, two thirds of the catchment is grassland, with moorland headwaters. No known catchment changes.
The station
Broad-crested masonry mill weir (47m wide), rated by check gaugings. Tadcaster ultrasonic gauge (27089) installed 1990, intended to replace Flint Mill but station retained primarily for high flow measurement. Check gauged at cableway 1.5km u/s but this was moved to 27089 in 1990. Flow was originally recorded on a flow chart up to the level of weir by-passing (1.6m), and level thereafter. Mill sluice operation in 1990s and modification of weir in 2010 affect low flow measurements.
How it measures flow
Cableway built 1954 0.75 miles upstream of weir. More accurate flow recorder installed in 1959. Station recalibrated 1965 due to insensitivity at low flows; control was deteriorating, but without known change in gauge zero. Weir control insensitive at low flows. Unlikely to drown at high flows, though small amount of bypassing on the right bank possible. Two peak flow ratings applied across period of record, Rating B originally derived by weir formula then checked by current meter with good fit to gaugings. Current rating from 2010, reflects reconstruction of weir crest to a higher level (raised by 0.08m) in summer 2010 but gauge zero not changed, difference is incorporated into rating offset. FSR rated excellent for high flows. Fish pass construction from late 2019 affects rating at low flows and another change will be required once sufficient data available for recalibration.
Flow regime
Regulation effect of headwater reservoirs evident at low flows. Small net export of water to the Aire Valley (including Bradford supply).
The flow record
For early records, chart zero was often set 0.3m below the weir crest to allow for the weir crest drying up due to leakage. This practice stopped in the 1960s. Flow charts from 1936-1955 considered unreliable and have not been digitised. Flow charts from 1955 to 1965 are digitised but have not been reprocessed with revised rating. Records since 1965 have been reprocessed with revised rating and are considered reliable for high flows, pre-1965 data is less reliable. Rating reviewed in 2022 and data reprocessed from 2009. Gap in data in 2010 due to weir repairs carried out by the landowner. Closed to daily flows in 2010 due to ongoing issues. Peaks flows are unaffected and held post-2010. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2020 (WINFAP Files v9).
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Gauging structure
Operating since
1936
Station datum
13.7 mAOD
Flow record
1955–2024 · 69 yrs · 85% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1936
Hydrometric area
27
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Possible storm-overflow correlation
🚽 Storm overflows on this river
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Wharfe at Flint Mill flooding today?
The current level is 0.54m, which is within the typical range of 0.40 to 2.60m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Flint Mill?
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 Wharfe at Flint Mill?
The typical range at this station is 0.40m to 2.60m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.60m 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:
Looking upstream from R bank
Looking downstream from gauging hut
Section in front of gauge hut
View downstream from gauging hut R bank
Weir following repairs in 2010
Weir
