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⚠ No recent data · last reading 58d ago
-0.03

Leighton Buzzard

Ouzel
Upper and Bedford Ouse catchment • Leighton Buzzard • Central Bedfordshire • ID: E21187 • Level
(58d ago) • 4 readings/hr • 142 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

Last Level
-0.026 m
⚠ 58d ago · may be out of date
24h Max
-
24h Min
-
Typical Range
0.06 - 0.33
m
Highest Recorded
1.70 m
EA official record
1.11 in our data (since Dec 1993)
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2019 for the 5 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.9 km away).

27flood warnings 20flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 27 Sep 2024River Ouzel at Leighton Buzzard, Stoke Hammond and Great Brickhill

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2025 0 3
2024 26 11
2021 1 2
2020 0 3
2019 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 Leighton Buzzard flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Station Reference: E21187
  • EA Gauge ID: E21187-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Upper and Bedford Ouse
  • Typical Range: 0.064 – 0.326 m
  • Drainage Area: 119 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: -0.03 m (EA at 26 Jun 20:30)
  • 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

🌊 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
0.52
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
674 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +2% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
2.5%
largely rural
Highest Recorded Flow
21.86 m³/s
5 Jan 2024
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.8952.890.5180.2125% (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 3%Grassland 43%Arable 45%Urban 7%Other 1%
Arable 59% → 45% 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 predominantly rural catchment with Chalk bedrock and with some artificial influences. Some flow diverted immediately u/s of station.

More detail

The catchment

Land in lower reaches is gently undulating. Predominantly Chalk. Rural catchment draining from the Chiltern escarpment.

The station

Crump profile weir (6m broad) in trapezoidal section (7.5m broad). Eel tiles and baffles added to structure in 2016. Removed from peak flows dataset in September 2023 (WINFAP Files v12).

How it measures flow

Weir subject to drowning at flows of approx. 4 cumecs. Some flow is diverted into a gravel pit through a weir (1m broad) located immediately u/s of station and infiltrates into Lower Greensand aquifer. Addition of low cost baffles and eel tiles in 2016 has minimal impact on rating. Rating does not fit well to gaugings during non-modular conditions.

Flow regime

Regime influenced by gw abstraction/recharge. Mainly industrial/agricultural abstraction. Some effluent returns.

The flow record

Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8).

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
Crump weir
Operating since
1976
Station datum
80.9 mAOD
Flow record
1976–2024 · 48 yrs · 90% complete
Hydrometric area
33
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Ouzel at Leighton Buzzard flooding today?

The current level is -0.03m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Leighton Buzzard?

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 Ouzel at Leighton Buzzard?

The typical range at this station is 0.06m to 0.33m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.33m 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:

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