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Water Level Rising
Up 0.16 m since 02:15, still rising (0.01 m/h)
0.40

Rutherford Bridge

Greta
Tees catchment • Boldron • County Durham • ID: F3523 • Level
(31m ago) • 2 readings/hr • 168 views

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Current Level
0.399 m
▲ Rising (+1cm/hr)
24h Max
0.399 m
24h Min
0.237 m
Typical Range
0.07 - 1.50
m
Highest Recorded
2.79 m
EA official record
2.67 in our data (since Jan 1982)
Current level is 14% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +7 cm over 6h
09 Oct 13:30 ▲ +0.5 cm 0.399 m
09 Oct 13:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.394 m
09 Oct 12:30 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.393 m
09 Oct 12:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.391 m
09 Oct 11:45 ▬ steady 0.390 m
09 Oct 11:30 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.390 m
09 Oct 11:15 ▲ +0.5 cm 0.387 m
09 Oct 11:00 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.382 m
09 Oct 10:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.386 m
09 Oct 10:15 ▬ steady 0.385 m
09 Oct 10:00 ▲ +0.7 cm 0.385 m
09 Oct 09:45 ▬ steady 0.378 m
09 Oct 09:15 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.378 m
09 Oct 09:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.375 m
09 Oct 08:45 ▲ +1 cm 0.374 m
09 Oct 08:15 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.362 m
09 Oct 08:00 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.359 m
09 Oct 07:45 ▲ +1 cm 0.357 m
09 Oct 07:30 ▲ +2 cm 0.346 m
09 Oct 07:15 0.330 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Rutherford Bridge
  • Watercourse: River Greta
  • Nearest Town: Boldron
  • County: County Durham
  • Nearest reservoir: Lune & Balder - Hury (10.1 km) · 94.9% full (as of 28 Dec 2025)
  • Coordinates: 54°30'18"N 1°56'56"W (54.505090, -1.948998)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Oct 1960
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: F3523
  • RLOI id: 8177 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: F3523-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 2 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Tees
  • Typical Range: 0.073 – 1.500 m
  • Drainage Area: 86 km² upstream of this gauge
  • 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
  • EA Cross-check: 0.39 m (EA at 9 Oct 13:00)
  • 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 downstream

Same river system, separate branch

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

💧 Storm overflows upstream of this gauge

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.

1 storm overflow is traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 4.2 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 1 reports not discharging.

💧
Northumbrian Water · into River Greta · 4.2 km upstream along the river
34 spills · 164 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

Nearby, connection not known

Within 6 km in a straight line, but the river map cannot say whether their water passes this gauge.

💧
Northumbrian Water · into Manifold Beck, Tributary Of · 2.2 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
19 spills · 85 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

11 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 1.50 m on about 1 day. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 0 days
2024 2 days
2023 3 days
2022 0 days
2021 0 days
2020 2 days
2019 1 day
2018 0 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 2022 for the 1 flood area linked to this gauge (nearest 4.3 km away).

1flood warning 0flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 20 Feb 2022 — River Tees at Barnard Castle

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 Boldron flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. This is the area linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Catchment Character

🌊 Flashy Rain runs off fast — levels rise and fall sharply, often within hours of heavy rain.

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
0.24
flashy — rain runs off fast
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,186 mm/yr
1991–2020 · -6% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.1%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
75.10 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
59.20 m³/s
5 Dec 2015 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 2.359.840.8390.1135% (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 1%Grassland 24%Heath/scrub 75%

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 at the end of a rock fall.

More detail

The catchment

A steep, eastward draining catchment in the Pennines developed largely on Millstone Grit, with nearly the whole catchment overlain by superficial deposits of peat and boulder clay. Mainly moorland and grass pasture. No known catchment changes.

The station

Compound Crump profile weir, total width 19.2m, central low flow crest 3m wide. Constructed at the head of a natural rock fall. No change in control since construction, no permanent cableway although gauged with a temporary winch. Flow is turbulent even when low.

How it measures flow

Remains modular throughout range. Some bypassing over wing walls, before they were extended, but in extreme cases wrack marks were surveyed in. Ice has been reported in the stilling well in severe winter conditions. Theoretical daily flow rating improved with check gaugings. Previous rating based on structure dimensions and valid up to top of dividing piers. New rating developed in 2010 and modified in March 2013 to improve derivation of low flows, applied from the start of the record. Check gaugings show good fit to rating up to maximum gauging of 1.13m. Flood Studies Report grade B.

Flow regime

Responsive, natural regime. No known artificial influences.

The flow record

Extreme flood level in August 1986 exceeded stilling well floor level; peak may be slightly under-estimated as a result. Missing data in February 2008 due to inaccurate drift correction. Flows reprocessed from 1982 onwards in 2002. New rating applied to whole record in March 2013. 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
Gauging structure
Operating since
1960
Station datum
223.0 mAOD
Flow record
1960–2024 · 64 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1960
Hydrometric area
25
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Greta at Rutherford Bridge flooding today?

The current level is 0.40m, which is within the typical range of 0.07 to 1.50m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Rutherford Bridge?

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.

Why is the level slowly falling?

When little or no rain has fallen for a while, a river level gradually drops as the water stored in the ground and soil drains away with nothing to replace it. This is called baseflow recession and is normal in dry spells. A gentle decline like this is expected and is not a sign of a problem — downstream gauges often recede a little faster than headwaters further upstream, and levels recover once rain returns.

What is a normal level for the River Greta at Rutherford Bridge?

The typical range at this station is 0.07m to 1.50m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.50m 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 →