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Water Level Easing
Easing — down from 0.09 at 02:30, now 0.06
0.06

Babraham

Granta
Cam and Ely Ouse (Including South Level) catchment • Babraham • Cambridgeshire • ID: E21005 • Level
(23m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 135 views

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Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
0.062 mASD
▼ Easing
24h Max
0.090 mASD
24h Min
0.051 mASD
Typical Range
0.04 - 0.24
mASD
Highest Recorded
1.10 mASD
EA official record
0.70 in our data (since Jan 1979)
Current level is 6% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -2 cm over 5h
09 Oct 07:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.062 mASD
09 Oct 07:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.061 mASD
09 Oct 07:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.062 mASD
09 Oct 06:45 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.061 mASD
09 Oct 06:30 ▬ steady 0.064 mASD
09 Oct 06:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.064 mASD
09 Oct 06:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.065 mASD
09 Oct 05:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.066 mASD
09 Oct 05:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.067 mASD
09 Oct 05:15 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.069 mASD
09 Oct 05:00 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.072 mASD
09 Oct 04:45 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.074 mASD
09 Oct 04:30 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.077 mASD
09 Oct 04:15 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.081 mASD
09 Oct 04:00 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 03:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.088 mASD
09 Oct 03:30 ▬ steady 0.090 mASD
09 Oct 03:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.090 mASD
09 Oct 03:00 ▲ +0.7 cm 0.089 mASD
09 Oct 02:45 0.082 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Babraham
  • Watercourse: River Granta
  • Nearest Town: Babraham
  • County: Cambridgeshire
  • Coordinates: 52°7'52"N 0°12'19"E (52.131206, 0.205231)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 5 Jan 1979
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E21005
  • Also at this site: BABRAHAM GS (E21412, flow, reporting)
  • RLOI id: 6194 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E21005-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 1 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Cam and Ely Ouse (Including South Level)
  • Typical Range: 0.044 – 0.235 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 99 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 7 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.06 mASD (EA at 9 Oct 07:15)
  • 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.

Nearby Stations

Gauges connected to this river, and others nearby. A distance “by river” follows the river on the map; any other is in a straight line.

Connected upstream

Connected downstream

Same river system, separate branch

Distances by river: OS Open Rivers. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

💧 Storm overflows upstream of this gauge

Storm overflows whose water reaches this gauge on the mapped river network, nearest first by distance along the river. The status is each water company's monitor: it says whether an overflow is discharging, not how much or what it contains.

2 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 6.1 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 2 report not discharging.

💧
Anglian Water · into River Granta Nt · 6.1 km upstream along the river
9 spills · 21 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Anglian Water · into River Granta · 7.5 km upstream along the river
1 spill · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

1 other overflow within 6 km is downstream of this gauge or on another branch of the river network, so it is not listed.

These are the water companies' monitor statuses; a spill does not by itself explain a change in the gauge level. River connections and distances are traced on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels. Explore the sewage map →

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

How often this river runs high

In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 0.24 m on about 19 days. This year so far: 21 days.

2026 21 days, 3 of them high · 3 high so far
2025 11 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2024 45 days, 10 of them high · 10 high
2023 34 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2022 8 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2021 26 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
2020 23 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2019 3 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2018 16 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2017 5 days, 1 of them high · 1 high

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 0.39 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2013 for the 4 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 3.9 km away).

0flood warnings 35flood alerts

Most recent flood alert: 27 Jan 2026 — River Granta in Essex and Cambridgeshire

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 2
2025 0 1
2024 0 8
2023 0 4
2022 0 1
2021 0 4
2020 0 5
2019 0 1
2018 0 1
2017 0 1
2016 0 3
2014 0 3
2013 0 1

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 Babraham flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 4 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Catchment Character

🌊 Mixed response A 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
608 mm/yr
1991–2020 · -1% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.2%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
3.97 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
11.80 m³/s
21 Oct 2001 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.2510.9280.1210.0125% (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 6%Grassland 18%Arable 72%Urban 4%
Arable 81% → 72% since 1990

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, effluent returns, industrial / agricultural 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

Structure gauging a Chalk catchment with some superficial deposits, predominantly arable land use, and significant artificial influences.

More detail

The catchment

Chalk catchment with superficial deposits in headwater areas. Predominantly arable land use.

The station

Triangular profile Flat V weir, 8.3m broad; constructed on an old brick weir. Height of wing walls above crest - 0.6m. Also called Babraham Hall.

How it measures flow

The station is drowned and bypassed at high flows. Current rating accounts for out of bank flow. However, from 12.94cumecs (0.95m) floodplain flow is over a wide area with great uncertainty in flows, and no gaugings above 0.4m to verify rating. Two ratings applied across period of record, the most recent is valid from January 1979. Part of the Lodes-Granta groundwater support scheme, which triggers at 26 l/s to maintain flow.

Flow regime

Regime influenced by gw abstraction/recharge. Significant gw abstractions for PWS and for industrial/agricultural uses. Runoff increased by effluent returns.

The flow record

The POR maximum flow in Oct 2001 derived from peak flow measurements as 20.41 cumecs, but this is subject to considerable uncertainty - high proportion of overbank flows. Water year 1996/1997 rejected due to low confidence on whether AMAX occurred during a missing data period. 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
Flat-V weir
Operating since
1976
Station datum
23.2 mAOD
Flow record
1963–2024 · 61 yrs · 86% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1976
Hydrometric area
33
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Granta at Babraham flooding today?

The current level is 0.06m, which is within the typical range of 0.04 to 0.24m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Babraham?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling slightly. The chart above shows the last 12 hours of measurements by default (up to 7 days), 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 Granta at Babraham?

The typical range at this station is 0.04m to 0.24m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.24m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.

How often is this river level data updated?

Readings are supplied by the Environment Agency gauge. FloodRadar checks for updates roughly every 15 minutes; the timestamp above shows how recent the latest available reading is.

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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, recorded floods, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →