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0.10

Cirencester

Churn ⚙ Structure
Cotswolds catchment • Stratton • Gloucestershire • ID: 0260TH • Level
(23m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 153 views

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Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on EA/SEPA data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
0.103 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.109 mASD
24h Min
0.099 mASD
Typical Range
0.08 - 0.70
mASD
Highest Recorded
1.05 mASD
EA official record
0.95 in our data (since Feb 1987)
Current level is 10% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

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.

Recent Readings

Steady over 6h
24 Aug 00:30 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
24 Aug 00:15 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
24 Aug 00:00 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 23:45 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 23:30 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 23:15 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 23:00 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 22:45 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 21:30 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 20:45 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 19:45 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.103 mASD
23 Aug 18:45 0.103 mASD

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2012 for the 5 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 2.4 km away).

15flood warnings 59flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 15 Jan 2023River Churn at Cerney Wick

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 24
2025 0 5
2024 0 6
2023 6 8
2022 0 1
2021 0 2
2020 3 2
2019 1 1
2018 0 2
2017 0 2
2016 0 1
2014 0 1
2012 5 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 Stratton flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Cirencester
  • Watercourse: River Churn
  • Nearest Town: Stratton
  • County: Gloucestershire
  • Coordinates: 51°43'28"N 1°58'20"W (51.724451, -1.972293)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1986
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station (multi-sensor)
  • Station Reference: 0260TH
  • EA Gauge ID: 0260TH-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 1 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: ⚙ Yes — lock, weir, sluice or pump
  • Catchment Area: Cotswolds
  • Typical Range: 0.078 – 0.700 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 84 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: -0.03 mASD (EA at 24 Aug 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.

Catchment Character

🌊 Groundwater-fed Slow 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
0.84
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
927 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.8%
largely rural
Highest Recorded Flow
4.43 m³/s
15 Dec 2000
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.7922.330.5290.0575% (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 19%Grassland 44%Arable 35%Urban 2%
Arable 39% → 35% since 1990

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

The gauging station is located in the middle section of the River Churn just above Cirencester, in the western Thames Basin.

More detail

The catchment

Pervious (Oolitic L'st) catchment on the dip-slope of the Cotswolds. Primarily rural with small, scattered settlements.

The station

Flat V weir (1:10 cross-slope, 4.5m broad). Auxiliary d/s water level recorder.

Flow regime

Baseflow-dominated regime. Significant diminution of runoff due to groundwater and surface water abstractions.

The flow record

All flows contained but bypassing can occur at very high flows (as in late 2000); hydrographs appear truncated. Zero flows occur during notable droughts.

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
Flat-V weir
Operating since
1979
Station datum
111.2 mAOD
Flow record
1979–2024 · 45 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Churn at Cirencester flooding today?

The current level is 0.10m, which is within the typical range of 0.08 to 0.70m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Cirencester?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, updated roughly every 15 minutes.

What is a normal level for the River Churn at Cirencester?

The typical range at this station is 0.08m to 0.70m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.70m 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.

Embed this gauge on your website

Free live river-level widget — ideal for parish councils, angling clubs and local sites. Updates automatically.

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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, floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →