Weaver and Dane catchment
• Davenham • Cheshire West and Chester • ID: 681210 • Level
(34m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 107 views
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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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Current Level
0.370 m
▲ Rising (+1cm/hr)
24h Max
0.370 m
24h Min
0.317 m
Typical Range
0.24 - 2.40
m
Highest Recorded
4.20 m
EA official record
4.20 in our data (since Jan 1976)
Current level is 9% 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 7 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional)via EA Hydrology
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.
35 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 9.2 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 32 report not discharging, and for 3 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
United Utilities · into The River Weaver · 1.7 km away in a straight line · discharges into a canal
1 spill · 0 hours in 2025
No live feed for this overflow
43 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.
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 →
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 Davenham flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 6 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 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
0.46
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
876 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +0% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
4.8%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
55.99 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
101 m³/s
21 Jan 2021 · 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.
Flat-V weir on the Dane, station affected by water backing up from downstream. Includes data from earlier velocity-area station 10m upstream.
More detail
The catchment
Headwaters in the southern Pennines but, for most part, river meanders over Cheshire plain with varying depths of post glacial drift overlying Triassic sandstone and Upper Triassic Keuper marl (mostly low permeability). In the east are Carboniferous Limestones, sandstones and grits. Alluvium in the valley bottoms. Mixed land use with appreciable urban development in the lower catchment. No catchment changes known.
The station
Opened as a velocity-area station in 1949, and rebuilt in 1957. Replaced in February 1979 by a Flat-V weir, 14m wide with truncated downstream slope. Both stations downstream of high road bridge, and ran simultaneously for a while.
How it measures flow
The original Velocity-area station suffered from changes in bed level due to mobile control which required several changes to rating with uncertainty as to applicability to high flows and to periods over which ratings applied. The current weir drowns at approx 1m. Cableway installed 01/1982; since removed. Gauged by wading or from u/s bridge. High flows regularly inundate fields over left bank (3.6m). Suffers from variable backwater which may affect the peak flow rating, due to backing-up from the Weaver but possibly also affected by changes in the maintenance regime; a downstream level recorder was installed in September 2002. Multiple peak flow ratings applied across period of record developed from in-bank current meter gaugings. From 1979 uses ratings derived from gaugings for the Flat-V weir, with hydraulic modelling applied to derive the top limb. Flood Studies Report grade B.
Flow regime
Responsive regime. Headwater transfers to Rudyard and Bosley reservoirs, which feed the Trent and Mersey canal. Many artificial influences within the catchment.
The flow record
Gauged daily flow data should be treated with caution prior to 02/1979. Low flows poor before 06/1957 (changing bed levels and cross section due to large amounts of silt). Summer 1976 flows might be overestimated. No daily flows available during weir construction (11/1978 to 02/1979). Re-rated data for 09/2000 to 12/2009 loaded onto NRFA 10/2010; highest gauged daily flows reduced by around 10%. Although peak flows are presented for the period of record, flows before 1979 are marked as rejected and should not be used in flood analyses. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in October 2018 (WINFAP Files v7).
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Dane at Rudheath flooding today?
The current level is 0.37m, which is within the typical range of 0.24 to 2.40m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Rudheath?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently rising. 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 River Dane at Rudheath?
The typical range at this station is 0.24m to 2.40m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.40m 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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21 Jan 2021 H&T station submerged, as well as the football playing field flood and submerged. Stage of approximately 4.203m
21 Jan 2021 Bridge gauging during January 2021 flood event
26 Nov 2014 Deposition of sediment on concrete platform, evidence of recent high flows
26 Nov 2014 View downstream from gauging station
26 Nov 2014 View upstream from gauging station
26 Nov 2014 Dane at Rudheath gauging station
27 Sep 2012
7 Dec 2007
1983
1983
1983
