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⏱ Last reading 3h ago
0.40

Harwood

Harwood Beck
Tees catchment • Langdon Common • County Durham • ID: F3581 • Level
(3h ago) • 4 readings/hr • 128 views

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Last Level
0.396 m
⚠ 3h ago · may be out of date
24h Max
0.548 m
24h Min
0.225 m
Typical Range
0.13 - 0.58
m
Highest Recorded
1.70 m
EA official record
1.70 in our data (since Jan 1982)
Current level is 23% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -9 cm over 5h
09 Oct 19:15 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.396 m
09 Oct 19:00 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.401 m
09 Oct 18:45 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.405 m
09 Oct 18:30 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.409 m
09 Oct 18:15 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.413 m
09 Oct 18:00 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.417 m
09 Oct 17:45 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.422 m
09 Oct 17:30 ▼ -0.6 cm 0.426 m
09 Oct 17:15 ▼ -0.6 cm 0.432 m
09 Oct 17:00 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.438 m
09 Oct 16:45 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.441 m
09 Oct 16:30 ▼ -0.6 cm 0.446 m
09 Oct 16:15 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.452 m
09 Oct 16:00 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.457 m
09 Oct 15:45 ▼ -0.8 cm 0.462 m
09 Oct 15:30 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.470 m
09 Oct 15:15 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.473 m
09 Oct 15:00 ▼ -0.6 cm 0.478 m
09 Oct 14:45 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.484 m
09 Oct 14:30 0.489 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Harwood
  • Watercourse: Harwood Beck
  • Nearest Town: Langdon Common
  • County: County Durham
  • Nearest reservoir: Cow Green (4.8 km) · 96.7% full (as of 28 Dec 2025)
  • Coordinates: 54°40'23"N 2°14'3"W (54.672926, -2.234106)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Sep 1969
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: F3581
  • RLOI id: 8093 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: F3581-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 2 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~27 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Tees
  • Typical Range: 0.130 – 0.578 m
  • Drainage Area: 25 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: 0.40 m (EA at 9 Oct 19:15)
  • 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

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.

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 0.58 m on about 40 days. This year so far: 14 days.

2026 14 days, 2 of them high · 2 high so far
2025 33 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2024 35 days, 6 of them high · 6 high
2023 55 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2022 34 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
2021 40 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2020 57 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
2019 44 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2018 26 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2017 35 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 1.01 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2011 for the 1 flood area linked to this gauge (nearest 7.5 km away).

0flood warnings 117flood alerts

Most recent flood alert: 25 Mar 2026 — Upper River Tees

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 5
2025 0 13
2024 0 14
2023 0 11
2022 0 2
2021 0 2
2020 0 3
2019 0 9
2018 0 5
2017 0 9
2016 0 7
2015 0 10
2014 0 4
2013 0 13
2012 0 9
2011 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 Langdon Common 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
0.26
flashy — rain runs off fast
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,588 mm/yr
1991–2020 · -9% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.0%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
33.59 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
28.80 m³/s
31 Jan 1995 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.9963.970.4130.0675% (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)
Grassland 22%Heath/scrub 78%
Grassland 65% → 22% 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

Flat-V weir for low flow control at a velocity-area station located in a small Pennine catchment. Natural regime.

More detail

The catchment

Small catchment high in the Pennines, underlain mostly by Carboniferous Limestone with extensive peat and Boulder Clay cover. Moorland and grass pasture land use. No known catchment changes.

The station

Flat-V weir (1:2 crest slopes, 1:10 cross-slope) for low flow control at velocity-area station. Shallow gravel bedded reach, leading to problems with gravel accumulation on weir apron and at the stilling well inlet; most gravel accumulates at the left side, in the past it was removed every 2-3 years but returned with flood flows and continued gravel removal no longer sustainable. Investigations have indicated the gravel is unlikely to affect the discharge characteristics of the weir. Tapping pipe extended in 2007 to avoid blockage. Site difficult to access in bad weather.

How it measures flow

No bypassing. Doesn't become non-modular. Only gauged at low flows until 2013. Since then ADCP gaugings have been carried out up to 0.935m. Daily flow rating extended using weir equation. Goes out of bank at 1m stage. One peak flow rating applied across period of record. An ADVP was installed in 2008 16m upstream from the primary stage recorder to improve level and flow measurement, but removed in 2012 after it was damaged during high flows. At high flows the rating under estimates flow compared to the check gaugings - probably due to the 'p' value being different to that used in the theoretical rating due to the accumulation of gravel at the site. More gaugings at higher levels are required to confirm this before the rating can be changed.

Flow regime

Natural, responsive regime. No known artificial influences.

The flow record

Blocking of the tapping pipe caused elevated low flows from 2002 - 2007: these should be treated with caution. Data for the period of 05/02/2007 to 28/09/2007 is suspect whilst tapping pipe was repaired. 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
1970
Station datum
374.0 mAOD
Flow record
1969–2024 · 55 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1969
Hydrometric area
25
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the Harwood Beck at Harwood flooding today?

The current level is 0.40m, which is within the typical range of 0.13 to 0.58m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Harwood?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling. 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. Only about 0.0mm of rain has fallen nearby in the last 7 days, so the flow is being sustained mainly by groundwater. 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 Harwood Beck at Harwood?

The typical range at this station is 0.13m to 0.58m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.58m 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 →