The official "typical high" for this gauge is routinely exceeded (often the case on
regulated rivers), so FloodRadar uses a threshold computed from this station's own data.
(29m ago) • 3 readings/hr • 137 views
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⤴Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
Height for "Above a height"
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You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.
You'll be notified when a new storm-overflow (sewage) discharge starts within ~3 km of this gauge, based on the water companies' near-real-time feeds.
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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
0.429 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.429 mASD
24h Min
0.418 mASD
Typical Range
0.17 - 0.62
mASD
Highest Recorded
1.06 mASD
EA official record
1.06 in our data (since Jul 1992)
Current level is 40% of this
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
EA forecast (official)
Prediction V2
Prediction Eris
Nimbus beta
Experimental model fusing soil moisture, river flow, groundwater and catchment
character. The shaded band is its 10–90% range, widened so that about 80% of recent outcomes fall inside it.
Under evaluation — not yet promoted, so treat as a second opinion.
River Flow
90 days
Daily mean discharge (m³/s) with the daily min–max band, from the EA Hydrology API. Flow is the volume of water passing the gauge — often a more direct flood signal than level.
Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 6 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional)via EA Hydrology
None of the storm overflows FloodRadar holds is traced upstream of this gauge on the mapped river network. That is not the same as none: the map leaves out many small streams and culverts, so an overflow it cannot place may still drain here, and not every company publishes every overflow. Those nearby are listed below.
Nearby, connection not known
Within 6 km in a straight line, but the river map cannot say whether their water passes this gauge.
Anglian Water · into River Rhee · 5.1 km away in a straight line · several watercourses close by, nothing to choose between them
102 spills · 1,645 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
2 other overflows within 6 km are downstream of this gauge or on another branch of the river network, so they are 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 →
In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 0.62 m
on about 56 days.
This year so far: 23 days.
202623 days so far
2025107 days, 32 of them high · 32 high
2024207 days, 56 of them high · 56 high
202397 days, 9 of them high · 9 high
20227 days, 1 of them high · 1 highpatchy data
202122 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
202010 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
20191 day
20180 days
20170 days
Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out, so a year marked patchy may have run high more often than shown.
The darker part is days above 0.74 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 2.0 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 Whaddon 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.
🌊 Groundwater-fedSlow and steady — fed largely by groundwater, so levels change gradually, not in sudden spikes.
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
0.94
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
576 mm/yr
1991–2020 · -3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
12%
partly urbanised
Highest Daily Mean Flow
1.50 m³/s
2 Jan 2003 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
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.
Station gauging a Chalk catchment with significant artificial influences.
More detail
The catchment
Chalk catchment used mainly for mixed farming but with significant built-up area (Royston).
The station
Pre-cast fibreglass flume set in concrete; long-crested flume crest 0.1m broad.
How it measures flow
Part of the Rhee groundwater support scheme, operated according to site conditions.
Flow regime
Flows affected by effluent from Royston STW u/s of station.
The flow record
Flow from 2014/11/20 to 2015/02/25 was likely non-modular. Flow from 2015/03/02 to 2015/06/15 may be affected by the Rhee Groundwater Support Scheme and flows during that period are higher than what could be expected based on nearby stations.
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Flume
Operating since
1980
Station datum
15.7 mAOD
Flow record
1980–2024 · 44 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
33
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Possible storm-overflow correlation
Frequently asked questions
Is the Whaddon Brook at Whaddon flooding today?
The current level is 0.43m, which is within the typical range of 0.17 to 0.62m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Whaddon?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. The chart above shows the last 12 hours of measurements by default (up to 7 days), updated roughly every 15 minutes.
What is a normal level for the Whaddon Brook at Whaddon?
The typical range at this station is 0.17m to 0.62m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.62m 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:
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