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0.21

Wedderburn Bridge

Leadon
Severn Vale catchment • Highleadon • Gloucestershire • ID: 2017 • Level
(36m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 87 views

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Current Level
0.209 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.230 mASD
24h Min
0.209 mASD
Typical Range
0.18 - 2.00
mASD
Highest Recorded
3.80 mASD
EA official record
A 6.06 reading (14 Oct 2020) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 6% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.5 cm over 6h
10 Oct 00:30 ▬ steady 0.209 mASD
10 Oct 00:15 ▬ steady 0.209 mASD
10 Oct 00:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.209 mASD
09 Oct 23:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.210 mASD
09 Oct 23:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.211 mASD
09 Oct 22:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.212 mASD
09 Oct 22:00 ▬ steady 0.213 mASD
09 Oct 21:45 ▬ steady 0.213 mASD
09 Oct 21:15 ▬ steady 0.213 mASD
09 Oct 21:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.213 mASD
09 Oct 20:45 ▬ steady 0.214 mASD
09 Oct 20:30 ▬ steady 0.214 mASD
09 Oct 20:15 ▬ steady 0.214 mASD
09 Oct 20:00 ▬ steady 0.214 mASD
09 Oct 19:45 ▬ steady 0.214 mASD
09 Oct 19:15 ▬ steady 0.214 mASD
09 Oct 19:00 ▬ steady 0.214 mASD
09 Oct 18:45 ▬ steady 0.214 mASD
09 Oct 18:30 ▬ steady 0.214 mASD
09 Oct 18:15 0.214 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Wedderburn Bridge
  • Watercourse: River Leadon
  • Nearest Town: Highleadon
  • County: Gloucestershire
  • Coordinates: 51°54'33"N 2°19'36"W (51.909034, -2.326730)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 21 Jul 1961
  • Status: Active (Data Temporarily Suspended)
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 2017
  • RLOI id: 2012 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 2017-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: Severn Vale
  • Typical Range: 0.181 – 2.000 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 293 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 4 May (159 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.21 mASD (EA at 10 Oct 00:15)
  • 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 upstream

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

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.

9 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 6.7 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 9 report not discharging.

💧
Severn Trent Water · into Ell Brook · 6.7 km upstream along the river
7 spills · 9 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Ell Brook · 6.7 km upstream along the river
17 spills · 86 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Peacocks Brook · 7.8 km upstream along the river
6 spills · 3 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Glynch Brook · 7.9 km upstream along the river
51 spills · 907 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Leadon · 18.1 km upstream along the river
2 spills · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Tributary Of River Alne · 25.2 km upstream along the river
4 spills · 24 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Leadon · 25.5 km upstream along the river
49 spills · 104 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into The River Leadon · 25.7 km upstream along the river
24 spills · 52 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

1 more further upstream, up to 26.1 km away along the river.

Nearby, connection not known

Within 6 km in a straight line, but the river map cannot say whether their water passes this gauge.

💧
Severn Trent Water · into Colliers Brook · 3.4 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
21 spills · 267 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Ullesthorpe Brook · 4.6 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Tributary Of Ley Brook · 4.7 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
0 spills · 0 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. 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 2.00 m on about 3 days. This year so far: 39 days.

2026 39 days, 25 of them high · 25 high so far
2025 16 days, 10 of them high · 10 high
2024 0 days
2023 0 days
2022 1 day, 1 of them high · 1 high
2021 0 days
2020 3 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2019 0 days
2018 0 days
2017 0 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. The darker part is days above 2.19 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2008 for the 1 flood area linked to this gauge (nearest 9.0 km away).

0flood warnings 151flood alerts

Most recent flood alert: 15 Mar 2026 — River Leadon catchment

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 10
2025 0 8
2024 0 21
2023 0 12
2022 0 6
2021 0 7
2020 0 9
2019 0 10
2018 0 10
2017 0 3
2016 0 4
2015 0 3
2014 0 12
2013 0 8
2012 0 8
2011 0 1
2010 0 3
2009 0 12
2008 0 4

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 Highleadon 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

🌊 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
0.57
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
740 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.0%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
48.86 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
127 m³/s
20 Jul 2007 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 2.318.941.020.3105% (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 11%Grassland 52%Arable 33%Urban 4%

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, effluent returns.

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

Trapezoidal flume flanked by broad-crested weirs within vertical sidewalls with suitable ratings up to QMED (bankfull) but uncertain accuracy above this limit - also affected by backwater effects.

More detail

The catchment

Low relief, agricultural catchment. Virtually Drift free; headwaters and middles reaches s'sts of Devonian and Triassic age, some Palaeozoic mixed sediments to the north, Mercia Mudstone in the lower reaches.

The station

Constructed in 1961 as a non-standard compound section comprised of a central trapezoidal flume flanked by broad crested weirs, with vertical sidewalls. Eel tiles installed flush to weir crest in November 2015. Expected to impact low flow measurement only. Calibration gaugings ongoing.

How it measures flow

The station is affected by backing up at high flows from backwater (Wedderburn Road Bridge upstream) and weed growth. Many flood events (below QMED) are over-bank, with the floodplain extending some 300m. The structure was originally calibrated using physical models, and ratings have been based on these calibrations and on gaugings. Two ratings applied across period of record. Rating 10 was derived from the Dec-2000 event but was considered unsuitable for extrapolation to 2007 peak levels. Rating curve 11 was derived to improve peak flow rates calculated for the 2007 flood event. The July 2007 event was the first event to spill over the Wedderburn Road. Modelling conducted following the 2007 high flow event has been used to develop a high flow rating for the site. Ratings were reviewed in January 2009 by including gaugings during events of 2000 and 2007, and hydraulic model (ISIS) results. Model rating includes drowned conditions; when the Severn is high backing up occurs as flap valves operate, thus in-bank gaugings show scatter to the ratings because of the variable backwater and severe weed growth. Large scatter in gaugings at high flows but 2000 high flow gaugings are considered more accurate than earlier ones. Probably just OK for QMED because gaugings have extended to QMED, and because of the physical and computer modelling.

Flow regime

Mostly natural regime. Minimal augmentation from groundwater pumping, spray irrigation may become significant at Q95. Minimal augmentation from gw pumping.

The flow record

July 2007 peak flow affected by substantial attenuation on floodplain as was 1.3m above bankfull, and backing up behind road bridge. Variable backwater from weed growth (a significant issue) and from exceptional events (such as maxima in 1968 and 1998) on the River Severn. Data from a downstream sensor from December 2002.

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
1962
Station datum
9.1 mAOD
Flow record
1962–2024 · 62 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1961
Hydrometric area
54
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Leadon at Wedderburn Bridge flooding today?

The current level is 0.21m, which is within the typical range of 0.18 to 2.00m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Wedderburn Bridge?

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.

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 6.6mm 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 River Leadon at Wedderburn Bridge?

The typical range at this station is 0.18m to 2.00m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.00m 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 →