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⤴Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
Height for "Above a height"
Drag the line on the chart, or type a value:mASD
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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.
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
Current Level
0.199 mASD
▲ Rising slightly
24h Max
0.211 mASD
24h Min
0.165 mASD
Typical Range
0.04 - 0.61
mASD
Highest Recorded
1.46 mASD
EA official record
A 2.21 reading (9 Jun 1987) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 14% of this
ⓘ
Flood alert
The Essex coast from Clacton to and including, St Peters Flat and the Colne and Blackwater estuaries
High tides overnight may lead to flooding.
Flooding is possible on consecutive tides from 11pm on Friday 9th October through to 1am on Saturday 10th October.
Clacton Promenade, Lee-over-Sands and Brightlingsea sea front may see some wave overtopping and spray. The Strood at Mersea Island, Coast Road and car parks on the front at West Mersea, and the Hythe and Promenade at Maldon may be flooded. The detailed forecast is for a peak level at Clacton of 2.90 mAODN at 12am, on Saturday 10th October, which is 0.48m above tide tables, Wind Force 6, Westerly. Tides will remain high over the next couple of days.
We are closely monitoring the situation .
Avoid coastal roads, footpaths and carparks, which may be flooded.
This message will be updated by 9:00AM on Saturday 10 October or as the situation changes.
The Essex coast from St Peters Flat to and including Shoeburyness and the Crouch and Roach estuaries
High tides overnight may lead to flooding.
Flooding is possible from 11pm on Friday 9th October through to 1am on Saturday 10th October.
Tide levels will be high at Battlesbridge and Hullbridge riversides. Creeksea Ferry Road onto Wallasea Island may be flooded. The detailed forecast is for a peak level at Clacton of 2.90 mAODN at 12am on Saturday 10th October, which is 0.48m above tide tables, Wind Force 6, Westerly. Tides will remain high over the next couple of days.
We are closely monitoring the situation .
Avoid coastal roads, footpaths and carparks, which may be flooded.
This message will be updated by 9:00AM on Saturday 10 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 7 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.
10 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 5.4 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 8 report not discharging, and for 2 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
Anglian Water · into Spicketts Brook Nt Blackwater · 5.7 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
1 other overflow within 6 km is downstream of this gauge or on another branch of the river network, so it is 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 →
In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 0.61 m
on about 2 days.
This year so far: 1 day.
20261 day so far
20252 days
20247 days patchy data
20232 days patchy data
20220 days patchy data
20215 days patchy data
20202 days
20192 days patchy data
20180 days patchy data
20170 days patchy data
Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out, so a year marked patchy may have run high more often than shown.
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2008 for the 6 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 3.1 km away).
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 Witham flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 6 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 Mixed responseA 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
0.53
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
603 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +1% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
7.4%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
3.90 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
15.10 m³/s
21 Oct 2001 · 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.
'Essex' profile gauging an elongated, predominantly rural, catchment on London Clay overlain with superficial deposits, with some artificial influences.
More detail
The catchment
London Clay with superficial deposits, mainly Boulder Clay and some sands and gravels. Predominantly rural, but some built-up areas (Braintree in mid-catchment and parts of Witham just u/s of station).
The station
'Essex' profile (modified Flat V Crump) weir with throat tapping. Secondary instrument installed in 2003 to record non-modular flows.
How it measures flow
Drowning occurs at very high levels but with limited non-modular flow. Station has throat tapping. Station prone to vandalism. One peak flow rating applied across period of record.
Flow regime
Runoff increased by effluent returns and reduced by industrial/agricultural abstraction.
The flow record
No POT data are presented for this station as they have no non-modular flow correction applied. AMAX data have been corrected. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8).
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Brain at Guithavon Valley flooding today?
The current level is 0.20m, which is within the typical range of 0.04 to 0.61m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Guithavon Valley?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently rising slightly. 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 Brain at Guithavon Valley?
The typical range at this station is 0.04m to 0.61m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.61m 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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15 Mar 2018 Upstream view to gauging station
15 Mar 2018 Upstream view to gauging station
15 Mar 2018 Control
15 Mar 2018 Upstream view to gauging station
16 Aug 2012 Downstream from gauging station
16 Aug 2012 Upstream view from gauging station
3 May 2012 Flooding DS of weir, stage 1.108m
3 May 2012 Flooding at weir, stage 1.108m
24 Aug 2001
24 Aug 2001
21 Aug 2001
