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0.43

Whaddon

Whaddon Brook
Cam and Ely Ouse (Including South Level) catchment • Whaddon • Cambridgeshire • ID: E22103 • Level
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.
(22m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 119 views

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

Current Level
0.428 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.432 m
24h Min
0.419 m
Typical Range
0.17 - 0.62
m
Highest Recorded
1.06 m
2 Jan 2003
Since Jul 1992
Current level is 40% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +0.5 cm over 6h
24 Aug 00:30 ▬ steady 0.428 m
24 Aug 00:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.428 m
24 Aug 00:00 ▬ steady 0.427 m
23 Aug 23:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.427 m
23 Aug 23:30 ▬ steady 0.426 m
23 Aug 23:15 ▬ steady 0.426 m
23 Aug 23:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.426 m
23 Aug 22:45 ▬ steady 0.425 m
23 Aug 21:30 ▬ steady 0.425 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.425 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.425 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.425 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.424 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.423 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.423 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▬ steady 0.423 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.423 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.423 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.423 m
23 Aug 18:45 0.423 m

Rainfall & Weather

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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).

1flood warning 101flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 24 Dec 2020Bourn Brook at Bourn, Toft and Comberton

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 2
2025 0 5
2024 0 22
2023 0 20
2022 0 4
2021 0 8
2020 1 10
2019 0 4
2018 0 6
2017 0 1
2016 0 3
2015 0 2
2014 0 12
2013 0 2

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.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Whaddon
  • Watercourse: Whaddon Brook
  • Nearest Town: Whaddon
  • County: Cambridgeshire
  • Coordinates: 52°6'7"N 0°1'3"W (52.101809, -0.017376)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jul 1992
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: E22103
  • EA Gauge ID: E22103-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 0 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: 0.167 – 0.623 m
  • Drainage Area: 16 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.43 m (EA at 24 Aug 00:15)
  • 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

🌊 Groundwater-fed Slow 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 Recorded Flow
1.50 m³/s
2 Jan 2003
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.1190.3200.0800.0395% (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 2%Grassland 15%Arable 52%Urban 31%
Arable 62% → 52% since 1990

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, effluent returns.

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

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.

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
Flume
Operating since
1980
Station datum
15.7 mAOD
Flow record
1980–2024 · 44 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
33
Measured by
Environment Agency

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 7 days of measurements, 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 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 →