Upper Mersey catchment
• Little Bollington • Greater Manchester • ID: 693515 • Level
(33m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 120 views
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⤴Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
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Residents reported flooding nearby when this gauge read ≥ 1.50 m
(1 report, nearest 13.6 km) — reported by FloodRadar users, not surveyed by the Environment Agency; a report is not proof any one property flooded.
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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EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms
Current Level
0.433 m
▼ Easing
24h Max
0.548 m
24h Min
0.302 m
Typical Range
0.26 - 1.00
m
Highest Recorded
1.50 m
EA official record
1.50 in our data (since Sep 2000)
Current level is 29% of this
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
EA forecast (official)
Prediction V2
Prediction Eris
Nimbus beta
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 8 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.
41 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 3.2 km away along the river. 3 report discharging now, 36 report not discharging, and for 2 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
United Utilities · into Agden Brook · 4.0 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
15 spills · 103 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
22 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.
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 1.00 m
on about 6 days.
This year so far: 0 days.
20260 days so far
20258 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
202410 days, 6 of them high · 6 high
20234 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
20222 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
202110 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
20208 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
201914 days, 9 of them high · 9 high
20181 day, 1 of them high · 1 high
20170 days
Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out.
The darker part is days above 1.07 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 8 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.4 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 Little Bollington flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 8 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
0.51
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
921 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +6% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
7.9%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
36.43 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
45.63 m³/s
20 Jan 2021 · 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.
Flat V weir station installed 19/09/2000 as a replacement for 69006 Bollin at Dunham Massey flow measurement station. Flows are combined main, mill race and fish pass since 2009.
More detail
The catchment
Mixed geology but with extensive Drift cover (some Millstone Grit exposed in headwaters). Land use is very mixed - a predominantly rural catchment but with Macclesfield below the headwaters and other urban centres. Reservoirs and many industrial abstractions and discharges affect low flows particularly.
The station
The control is an 11.6m wide british standard Flat V weir tapered downstream face. Original mill race takes approx. 10% of flows and Larinier fish pass (installed in 2009 with non-standard Crump on intake), approx. 25% of flow at low flows. Station added to peak flows dataset in August 2024 (WINFAP Files v13).
How it measures flow
Flows contained and modular to bank full at 2m. Mill race on right bank has been present since the station was opened and takes approximately 10% of flow under low flow conditions. The thin plate weir at the entrance of the mill race regularly becomes blocked with debris, this needs regular maintenance. Flows for the mill race account for roughly 10% of the main river when the thin plate is working, above 0.5m the structure is acting as an orifice and the % of flow going down the mill race reduced. A Nivus PCM4 bed mounted sensor was installed in October 2009 and has provided useful information on the characteristics of the Mill Race in high flow conditions. The mill race backs up from the main channel at levels above 0.8m at the main weir meaning that flows are restricted to around 1.25m3/s. Pre-2009, flows were calculated using the sum of the flat V weir for the main channel, and the thin plate for the Mill race. In 2009 a Larinier fish pass was constructed on the left bank approximately 40m upstream of the station which takes approximately 25% of the flow at Q95, but accuracy of measurement at intake Crump was compromised during construction.
Flow regime
Very responsive regime. Reservoirs and many industrial abstractions and discharges affect low flows particularly.
The flow record
The NRFA holds the combined record (main channel, mill race and fish pass), which has been produced since 19/11/2009. EA hold earlier data for the main channel.
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Bollin at Bollington Mill flooding today?
The current level is 0.43m, which is within the typical range of 0.26 to 1.00m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Bollington Mill?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling 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 Bollin at Bollington Mill?
The typical range at this station is 0.26m to 1.00m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.00m 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:
FloodRadar
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23 May 2022 Looking downstream, on right bank
1 Jun 2014 Looking upstream
6 Feb 2011 Looking upstream at flood, right bank
6 Feb 2011 Looking upstream at weir, on right bank
6 Feb 2011 Looking at weir, on right bank
25 Oct 2005 Looking upstream, high flow gauging