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Water Level Falling Slightly
0.46

Shardlow

Trent
Lower Trent and Erewash catchment • Shardlow • Derbyshire • ID: 4007 • Level
(22m ago) • 1 reading/hr • 161 views

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Current Level
0.460 mASD
▼ Falling slightly
24h Max
0.504 mASD
24h Min
0.444 mASD
Typical Range
0.41 - 1.70
mASD
Highest Recorded
3.46 mASD
7 Nov 2000
Since Jan 1956
Current level is 13% of this
Current Flow
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Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -3 cm over 6h
23 Aug 22:45 ▼ -0.5 cm 0.460 mASD
23 Aug 21:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.465 mASD
23 Aug 21:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.467 mASD
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.468 mASD
23 Aug 20:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.469 mASD
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.471 mASD
23 Aug 20:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.471 mASD
23 Aug 20:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.473 mASD
23 Aug 19:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.474 mASD
23 Aug 19:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.476 mASD
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.478 mASD
23 Aug 19:00 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.478 mASD
23 Aug 18:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.480 mASD
23 Aug 18:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.481 mASD
23 Aug 18:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.482 mASD
23 Aug 18:00 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.483 mASD
23 Aug 17:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.485 mASD
23 Aug 17:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.486 mASD
23 Aug 17:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.487 mASD
23 Aug 17:00 0.489 mASD

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 40 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.2 km away).

1severe warning 236flood warnings 141flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 3 Mar 2026River Soar at Zouch Island

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 23 7
2025 0 18 9
2024 0 31 11
2023 1 41 12
2022 0 6 6
2021 0 21 8
2020 0 18 7
2019 0 31 15
2018 0 3 4
2016 0 6 6
2015 0 0 3
2014 0 0 3
2013 0 4 7
2012 0 22 11
2011 0 0 1
2010 0 1 4
2009 0 1 3
2008 0 7 8
2007 0 3 9
2006 0 0 7

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 Shardlow flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Shardlow
  • Watercourse: River Trent
  • Nearest Town: Shardlow
  • County: Derbyshire
  • Nearest reservoir: Staunton (10.1 km) · 56.9% full (as of 17 Aug 2026)
  • Coordinates: 52°51'56"N 1°20'7"W (52.865431, -1.335368)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 31 Dec 1982
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 4007
  • EA Gauge ID: 4007-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • 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: Lower Trent and Erewash
  • Typical Range: 0.413 – 1.700 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 4,400 km² upstream of this gauge
  • EA Cross-check: 0.46 mASD (EA at 23 Aug 22:15)
  • 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.

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
0.52
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
791 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
12%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
257 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
706 m³/s
7 Nov 2000
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 52.4714636.6917.565% (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 7%Grassland 48%Arable 23%Urban 20%Other 1%
Arable 27% → 23% since 1990

Flow affected by: surface-water abstraction, reservoir influence, public water supply, groundwater 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

Sidelooker horizontal ADCP, using index velocity method to derive flows from 15/02/2008 onwards. Velocity Index gauge replaced multipath cross-configuration Ultrasonic Time of Flight gauge in 1991. Prior to 1991, gauge had a non-operational velocity-area rating which was not suitable to process flow due to being subject to variable backwater influence of the River Derwent and weed growth.

More detail

The catchment

Large catchment which contains much of Birmingham City. The Trent headwaters have small outcrops of Coal Measures whilst the Dove catchment is dominated by Millstone Grit and Carboniferous Limestone. Approx 25% of the catchment is overlain by Boulder Clay, 10% valley gravels, terraces and alluvium. Drift free areas are largely Keuper Marl and sandstone. Diverse land use from moorland to industrial.

The station

Index-Velocity station in the navigable Trent. Main channel approximately 45m wide. Gauged using ADCP boat. Station re-opened in the peak flows dataset in September 2022 (WINFAP Files v11).

How it measures flow

Originally a VA station but prone to error due to variable backwaters. Multipath cross-configuration Ultrasonic Time of Flight station installed 1991. Four major flood relief culverts on right bank and one major culvert on left bank. Velocity Index station since 2008 has been fully calibrated to highest flood flows which includes all bypass flow in a two wage index velocity equation and can be used with confidence across the full flow range from this date onwards. Original TOF gauge (1991 to 2008) did not record out of bank flows accurately as large areas of unmeasured bypass flow. Given the low frequency of such flow during the TOF gauged record an attempt was made to estimate flow at flows above bankfull. Flows are considered accurate based on extrapolation of recent high flow bypass gaugings. Early high flow current meter gaugings appear inaccurate compared to ADCP flood gaugings.

Flow regime

Very substantial flow modifications owing to imports, WRW, cooling water and industrial usage. Reservoir(s) in catchment affect runoff. Regulation from surface water and/or ground water. Runoff reduced by public water supply abstraction and increased by effluent returns. Runoff influenced by groundwater abstraction/recharge.

The flow record

Chart record commences 01/01/1955 with a complete record. Digital record commences 31/12/1982. Station could reliably be used for level only POT from 1955 to 1991, hence POT flow record commences 1991. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released 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
1955
Station datum
29.0 mAOD
Flow record
1957–2024 · 67 yrs · 63% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1937
Hydrometric area
28
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Trent at Shardlow flooding today?

The current level is 0.46m, which is within the typical range of 0.41 to 1.70m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Shardlow?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling slightly. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, 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 Trent at Shardlow?

The typical range at this station is 0.41m 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 taken by the Environment Agency gauge roughly every 15 minutes and FloodRadar refreshes its data continuously, so the level shown is normally less than an hour old.

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Postcodes within 5 km with properties in the Environment Agency’s rivers-and-sea flood-risk bands:

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