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0.12

Bedburn

Bedburn Beck
Wear catchment • Hamsterley • County Durham • ID: 024004 • Level
(31m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 115 views

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Current Level
0.123 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.141 m
24h Min
0.112 m
Typical Range
0.10 - 1.05
m
Highest Recorded
2.31 m
EA official record
A 3.91 reading (16 Mar 2013) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 5% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.9 cm over 5h
10 Oct 05:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.123 m
10 Oct 05:00 ▬ steady 0.124 m
10 Oct 04:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.124 m
10 Oct 04:30 ▬ steady 0.125 m
10 Oct 04:15 ▬ steady 0.125 m
10 Oct 04:00 ▬ steady 0.125 m
10 Oct 03:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.125 m
10 Oct 03:30 ▬ steady 0.127 m
10 Oct 03:15 ▬ steady 0.127 m
10 Oct 03:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.127 m
10 Oct 02:45 ▬ steady 0.128 m
10 Oct 02:30 ▬ steady 0.128 m
10 Oct 02:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.128 m
10 Oct 02:00 ▬ steady 0.129 m
10 Oct 01:45 ▬ steady 0.129 m
10 Oct 01:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.129 m
10 Oct 01:15 ▬ steady 0.130 m
10 Oct 01:00 ▬ steady 0.130 m
10 Oct 00:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.130 m
10 Oct 00:30 0.132 m

Station Details

Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 024004
  • RLOI id: 8018 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 024004-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: Wear
  • Typical Range: 0.096 – 1.050 m
  • Drainage Area: 75 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 8 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: 0.12 m (EA at 10 Oct 05:15)
  • 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

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.

💧
Northumbrian Water · into Linburn Beck, Tributary Of · 1.4 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
2 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Northumbrian Water · into Linburn Beck · 1.6 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
97 spills · 365 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Northumbrian Water · into Wadley Burn · 2.7 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
56 spills · 556 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Northumbrian Water · into Culverted Beechburn Beck · 4.5 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Northumbrian Water · into Crook Beck, Tributary Of · 5.4 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
37 spills · 188 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Northumbrian Water · into Tributary Of Norton Fine Beck · 5.5 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
27 spills · 50 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Northumbrian Water · into River Wear Tributary · 5.8 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now

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 1.05 m on about 2 days. This year so far: 3 days.

2026 3 days so far
2025 1 day
2024 1 day
2023 7 days
2022 2 days
2021 0 days
2020 5 days
2019 2 days
2018 2 days
2017 2 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 2010 for the 9 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 3.8 km away).

2flood warnings 79flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 9 Feb 2020 — River Wear at Witton-le-Wear

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 3
2025 0 3
2024 0 4
2023 0 14
2022 0 3
2021 0 1
2020 1 5
2019 0 4
2018 0 4
2017 0 3
2016 0 3
2015 1 8
2014 0 2
2013 0 9
2012 0 9
2011 0 3
2010 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 Hamsterley 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

🌊 Fairly flashy Responds 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
0.36
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
996 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.1%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
27.30 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
34.30 m³/s
17 Jul 2009 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 1.234.150.6790.1485% (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 32%Grassland 20%Arable 1%Heath/scrub 47%
Heath/scrub 52% → 47% since 1990

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 set in a deep valley with progressive afforestation and felling practices.

More detail

The catchment

Predominantly upland catchment, on Millstone Grit in north and Coal Measures to south, a quarter of the catchment overlain by drift cover of Boulder Clay and peat. Land use is upland moorland, grass pasture and coniferous forest. Progressive afforestation and felling (Hamsterley Forest) since gauge established may have created changes in hydrological regime.

The station

Compound Crump profile weir. No cableway. A steep drop d/s makes drowning unlikely. Set in a deep valley.

How it measures flow

Compound Crump profile weir, 2.4m wide low flow crest, 10.3m overall crest length (2:1 u/s and 5:1 d/s slopes). Flanking weir crests are 0.3m above central low flow crest. May be out of bank on right bank behind gauging hut in largest events (>2.1m stage) but well contained on left bank by steep slope and bypassing likely to be minimal. Difficult to gauge at high flows although this is now possible with ADCP and ARC boat. Single peak flow rating applied across period of record. Good fit to available gaugings. Flood Studies Report grade A1 to 2m.

Flow regime

Natural regime, no known artificial influences.

The flow record

Missing between Sep-Oct 1978 (reason unknown) and 10-12/08-2002 due to a tree affecting levels. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2020 (WINFAP Files v9).

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
1959
Station datum
109.0 mAOD
Flow record
1959–2024 · 65 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1959
Hydrometric area
24
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the Bedburn Beck at Bedburn flooding today?

The current level is 0.12m, which is within the typical range of 0.10 to 1.05m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Bedburn?

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 Bedburn Beck at Bedburn?

The typical range at this station is 0.10m to 1.05m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.05m 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 →