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You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.
Beta. You'll be notified when a flood wave detected at an upstream gauge is forecast to reach this station, with an estimated arrival time. Accuracy improves as we verify more waves.
You'll be notified when a new storm-overflow (sewage) discharge starts within ~3 km of this gauge, based on the water companies' near-real-time feeds.
Get notified when recent rainfall near this gauge crosses its learnt rise trigger — an early "watch"
signal, typically hours before a rise. Experimental; not an official flood warning.
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Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on
EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms
Rising river levels today may lead to flooding.
Flooding is possible from the evening of Saturday 24 October .
Storm Boelo is forecast to bring heavy rain and strong winds across Cumbria today, Saturday 24th October and overnight into tomorrow. River levels are likely to rise during the course of today and this evening with the potential for some flooding of low lying land. Locations most affected will be low lying land and roads near rivers Ehen, Calder, Irt, Esk and other watercourses from Harrington to Annaside including low lying areas around Whitehaven, Cleator Moor, Egremont, Gosforth, Eskdale and Bootle.
We are closely monitoring the situation .
Take care and avoid walking, cycling or driving through flood water.
This message will be updated by 9:00AM on Sunday 25 October or as the situation changes.
The high tide overnight into Sunday 25th October 2026 has passed, we do not expect to see similar impacts from the next high tide or the tides overnight tonight into Monday and Monday Morning.
The Flood Alert remains in force, so flooding of roads and low lying land is still possible for low lying areas along the coast from St Bees Head to Haverigg including Ravenglass and Annaside. Avoid coastal roads, footpaths and carparks, which may be flooded.
The tide on Monday night, into Tuesday 27th October is expected to be high and may require a flood alert. We will continue to monitor the situation and will issue further alerts or warnings if necessary.
This message will be updated by 10:00AM on Monday 26 October or as the situation changes.
Experimental model fusing soil moisture, river flow, groundwater and catchment
character. The shaded band is its 10–90% range, widened so that about 80% of recent outcomes fall inside it.
Under evaluation — not yet promoted, so treat as a second opinion.
River Flow
90 days
Daily mean discharge (m³/s) with the daily min–max band, from the EA Hydrology API. Flow is the volume of water passing the gauge — often a more direct flood signal than level.
Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 23 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional)via EA Hydrology
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.
14 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 4.1 km away along the river. 4 report discharging now, 8 report not discharging, and for 2 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
United Utilities · into Irish Sea · 6.0 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
41 spills · 484 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
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. Sewage & storm overflows →
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 Braystones flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 8 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 Steep & flashySteep catchment sheds rain quickly — expect fast, sharp rises after 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
0.50
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,862 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +2% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.1%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
73.68 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
100 m³/s
19 Nov 2009 · 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.
Non-standard shallow V weir. Low flows dominated by compensation flow from Ennerdale.
More detail
The catchment
Geology of the upper catchment is impervious Borrowdale Volcanics in east, Skiddaw Slates in west, the whole overlain in north west by Carboniferous Limestone, Coal Measures and patches of Permo-Triassic Sandstone. Drift covered. Some urban development in the small towns of Egremont and Cleator Moor in the lower catchment, middle reaches arable, remainder sheep pasture. Towns situated close to the channel or tributaries. Includes Ennerdale Water. No known catchment changes.
The station
Non-standard shallow V control installed 1997. Superseded a velocity area station with unstable rating. Weir lowered summer 2007.
How it measures flow
Cableway at site. Stony bed. Bypassed in extreme floods - comes out of bank u/s at about 2m and bypasses station; thus flow measured is not total flow. Velocity area station had unstable rating - gravel bar low flow control with significant weed growth problems. Multiple peak flow ratings applied across period of record. Rated by current meter to 2.4m. Ratings allow for changes in channel and weir structure. Change in datum in 2007 when weir was lowered unknown.
Flow regime
Low flows dominated by compensation flow from Ennerdale; major exports for water supply.
The flow record
Significant bypassing in major events, such as November 2009 when embankments were breached. Flows above 1.3m likely to be underestimated. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8) and in September 2023 (WINFAP Files v12).
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Ehen at Braystones flooding today?
The current level is 1.19m, which is within the typical range of 0.34 to 1.70m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Braystones?
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.
What is a normal level for the River Ehen at Braystones?
The typical range at this station is 0.34m to 1.70m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.70m 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:
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6 Jun 2018 Weir looking upstream
11 Oct 2017 High Flow looking downstream
1983
1983
1983
1983
Ehen at Braystones - across weir
Looking upstream showing cableway - before weir
Cableway - before weir
Downstream showing gravel bar
Braystones after peak
Braystones after peak
Braystones after peak
