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0.16

St Erth

Hayle
West Cornwall catchment • St Erth • Cornwall • ID: 48125 • Level
(29m ago) • 3 readings/hr • 159 views

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Current Level
0.161 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.168 m
24h Min
0.161 m
Typical Range
0.24 - 0.80
m
Highest Recorded
1.30 m
EA official record
A 1.70 reading (3 Jun 2025) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 12% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.2 cm over 6h
08 Oct 20:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.161 m
08 Oct 19:45 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 19:30 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 19:00 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 18:30 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 18:15 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 17:45 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 17:30 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 17:15 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 17:00 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 16:45 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 16:30 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 16:00 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 15:45 ▬ steady 0.162 m
08 Oct 15:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.162 m
08 Oct 15:00 ▬ steady 0.163 m
08 Oct 14:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.163 m
08 Oct 14:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.162 m
08 Oct 14:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.164 m
08 Oct 13:45 0.163 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: St Erth
  • Watercourse: River Hayle
  • Nearest Town: St Erth
  • County: Cornwall
  • Coordinates: 50°9'25"N 5°25'59"W (50.156881, -5.432918)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 3 Jan 1968
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 48125
  • Also at this site: ST ERTH (E45728, flow, reporting)
  • RLOI id: 3165 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 48125-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 1 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: West Cornwall
  • Typical Range: 0.237 – 0.800 m
  • Drainage Area: 48 km² upstream of this gauge
  • 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
  • EA Cross-check: 0.16 m (EA at 8 Oct 19:45)
  • 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.

Nearby Stations

Gauges connected to this river, and others nearby. A distance “by river” follows the river on the map; any other is in a straight line.

Connected upstream

Connected downstream

Nearby

Distances by river: OS Open Rivers. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

💧 Storm overflows upstream of this gauge

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.

💧
South West Water · into Stream (S) · 3.4 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
4 spills · 9 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Phillack CSO🏊 Bathing water
South West Water · into Hayle Estuary (E) · 4.3 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Hayle Estuary (E) · 4.4 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
4 spills · 25 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into (C) Mounts Bay · 5.2 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
50 spills · 566 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Gladstone Terrace North🏊 Bathing water
South West Water · into Longrock Stream · 5.7 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
23 spills · 125 hours in 2025
No live feed for this overflow
💧
Porthminster Point 1 EO🏊 Bathing water
South West Water · into St Ives Bay Atlantic Ocean · 5.9 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
6 spills · 8 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Longrock Industrial Estate🏊 Bathing water
South West Water · into Mounts Bay (C) · 5.9 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
6 spills · 4 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
South West Water · into Trib Of Angarrack Strean · 6.0 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
76 spills · 293 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 →

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

How often this river runs high

In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 0.80 m on about 9 days. This year so far: 23 days.

2026 23 days so far
2025 16 days
2024 13 days
2023 10 days
2022 0 days
2021 6 days
2020 12 days
2019 9 days
2018 11 days
2017 0 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 9 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.2 km away).

5severe warnings 160flood warnings 502flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 29 Jan 2026 — River Hayle from Relubbus to St Erth

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 1 18
2025 0 4 16
2024 0 23 36
2023 0 11 21
2022 0 4 9
2021 0 2 14
2020 0 24 46
2019 0 15 30
2018 0 16 47
2017 0 0 8
2016 0 19 37
2015 0 8 22
2014 4 12 59
2013 0 0 12
2012 0 8 25
2011 0 0 14
2010 0 2 20
2009 0 0 10
2008 1 2 9
2007 0 1 17
2006 0 8 32

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 St Erth flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 9 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 1 more

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
0.64
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,136 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +8% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.8%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
4.48 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
8.62 m³/s
1 Jan 2003 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 1.012.820.6960.2315% (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 8%Grassland 44%Arable 41%Heath/scrub 4%Urban 3%
Grassland 47% → 44% since 1990

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, 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

Compound Crump weir with some issues from weed growth. Flows can be affected by mine drainage.

More detail

The catchment

Headwaters drain two moorland granite outcrops. Majority of the catchment is underlain by grits and shales of Devonian age, crossed by dyke swarms. Mining spoil in the floodplain. Generally low-grade agricultural use. Slow responding catchment with much storage. Historically some mining in catchment.

The station

Compound Crump profile weir. Width of middle crest of 1.22m and the two side crests of 1.675m each. Piers and wingwalls at a height of 1.83m with floodbanks at 3.8m. In 2023, eel pass tiles were installed along the left hand bank outer weir and fish bristles on the centre weir.

How it measures flow

High flows may go out of bank, but a flood channel ensures flow is contained. May drown at high flows. Weir was built in 1968 and superseded a velocity-area station for which it was not possible to derive a satisfactory rating curve because of variable weed growth. Weeds subsequently controlled by occasional cutting, but remained an issue. One peak flow rating valid across the Crump period of record. Rating confirmed by gaugings to 1.26 m. Max gauging during 12/2012 flood. Although weir drowned during this event existing rating was good. As this is the highest flood peak since the station opened, record can assumed to be good throughout.

Flow regime

Runoff influenced by groundwater abstraction/recharge. Abstraction for industrial/agricultural purposes. Mine drainage may moderately affect flows.

The flow record

Peak flows rejected pre-Crump (for 1957-1968) because variable weed growth made derivation of a satisfactory velocity-area rating impossible. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in October 2018 (WINFAP Files v7) and in August 2024 (WINFAP Files v13).

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
Gauging structure
Operating since
1957
Station datum
7.0 mAOD
Flow record
1957–2024 · 67 yrs · 86% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1957
Hydrometric area
49
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Hayle at St Erth flooding today?

The current level is 0.16m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at St Erth?

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 River Hayle at St Erth?

The typical range at this station is 0.24m to 0.80m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.80m 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:

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, recorded floods, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →