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.
9 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 12.5 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 9 report not discharging.
Anglian Water · into Tributary River Great Ouse · 5.4 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
15 spills · 30 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
4 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 →
🌊 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
666 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +1% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
6.6%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
19.90 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
27.81 m³/s
5 Jan 2024 · 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.
Gauging a predominantly rural catchment with mixed bedrock, influenced by Leighton Buzzard and by Milton Keys in the lower part, high flows may be underestimated.
More detail
The catchment
Mixed bedrock geology, with Greensand and Oxford Clay and some Boulder Clay cover. Primarily a rural catchment of mixed agriculture, although Leighton Buzzard is in catchment, and southern suburbs of Milton Keynes are situated in lower valley just u/s of station.
The station
Flat V Crump profile weir (10m broad) and sluices. The present weir replaced a compound broad-crested weir (10m broad) with bypass channel in 1977 when the river was realigned.
How it measures flow
Radial lifting gate immediately u/s of weir diverts very high flows to adjacent balancing reservoir which empties d/s of weir. This may result in high flows being appreciably less than those seen upstream at Bletchley (33058). Annual floods do not bypass. FSR Grade A1 in 1971. Two ratings applied across period of record, the most recent is valid from July 1977 when weir rebuilt.
Flow regime
Runoff influenced by industrial/agricultural abstraction and effluent returns.
The flow record
Monthly maxima (HIFs) may be offset from daily mean flows during periods of gate movement. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2020 (WINFAP Files v9).
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Flat-V weir
Operating since
1962
Station datum
57.3 mAOD
Flow record
1962–2024 · 62 yrs · 95% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1961
Hydrometric area
33
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Frequently asked questions
Is WILLEN GS flooding today?
The latest recorded level is 0.57m. Compare it with the recent history on the chart above to judge whether levels are unusually high.
Is the river level rising or falling at WILLEN GS?
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.
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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Free live river-level widget — ideal for parish councils, angling clubs and local sites. Updates automatically.
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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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