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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.
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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
-0.091 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
-0.091 mASD
24h Min
-0.091 mASD
Typical Range
0.02 - 0.60
mASD
Highest Recorded
0.75 mASD
EA official record
A 0.95 reading (25 Dec 2013) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
EA forecast (official)
Flood predictions aren't generated for
lock / structure gauges —
their levels are driven by gate operation,
not by catchment rainfall, so the forecast models would have no skill here.
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.
Downstream level
7 days
The level on the DOWNSTREAM side of this lock/weir structure — a separate EA
measure from the main (upstream) reading shown on the Current tab. Threshold bands
are computed from this gauge's own downstream history.
Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 6 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional)via EA Hydrology
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.
Thames Water · into Shorncote Ditch · 4.0 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
125 spills · 2,067 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
3 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 →
In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 0.60 m
on about 55 days.
This year so far: 56 days.
202656 days, 8 of them high · 8 highso far
202544 days, 9 of them high · 9 high
2024160 days, 63 of them high · 63 high
2023100 days, 29 of them high · 29 high
20221 day
202152 days, 21 of them high · 21 high
202068 days, 9 of them high · 9 high
201967 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
20180 days
20170 days
Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out.
The darker part is days above 0.67 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2010 for the 13 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.8 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 Cerney Wick flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 13 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 Groundwater-fedSlow and steady — fed largely by groundwater, so levels change gradually, not in sudden spikes.
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
0.83
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
896 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
2.4%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
3.46 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
4.60 m³/s
11 Feb 1990 · 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.
Station located downstream of Cirencester on the River Churn.
More detail
The catchment
Linear catchment on the dip-slope of the Cotwolds. Primarily a pervious (Jurassic oolitic L'st) catchment but with Oxford Clay in lower reaches. Rural in character. Cirencester is the largest town. Extensive open water (Cotswold Water Park) just u/s of Cerney Wick.
The station
Asymmetrical compound Crump weir (crests: 1.8m and 3.7m wide).
How it measures flow
Full range (and modular) but bypassing can occur at peak flows. This maybe due to peak flow water conveyance in a low lying area that containing a drainage channel. This lies 100m from the river between the main river channel and a disused canal. Very limited head during periods of low flow, hence sensitivity problems. Characterised by a fast rise in water levels during a low flow period. A landowner has occasionally used lasher boards at one crest to impound water for animal watering. Flow is within bank and rating estimate flows fairly accurately.
Flow regime
Groundwater-fed regime with notably steep seasonal recoveries during wet autumn/early winters. Runoff reduced by industrial/agricultural abstraction but increased by effluent returns. Gw abstractions result in significant loss to the catchment. Evaporation from gravel pits may also be a factor in recent years. Flow sometimes affected by discharges from South Cerney Halford quarry SU 072 967 (consent 13Ml/d from 1986).
The flow record
The river experiences periods of zero flow in some years. Flows generally lower than Cirencester GS due to gravel working. Peak flows probably under-estimated during 2000/01 and July 2007 due to channel bypassing. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in August 2024 (WINFAP Files v13).
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Gauging structure
Operating since
1969
Station datum
82.2 mAOD
Flow record
1969–2024 · 55 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1969
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Churn at Cerney Wick flooding today?
The current level is -0.09m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Cerney Wick?
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 River Churn at Cerney Wick?
The typical range at this station is 0.02m to 0.60m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.60m 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:
FloodRadar
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