Ribble Douglas and Crossens catchment
• Newburgh • Lancashire • ID: 700306 • Level
(33m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 139 views
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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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EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms
Current Level
1.011 m
▲ Rising (+7cm/hr)
24h Max
1.166 m
24h Min
0.788 m
Typical Range
0.29 - 2.75
m
Highest Recorded
3.80 m
EA official record
A 5.42 reading (26 Feb 2026) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 27% of this
Current Flow
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🚽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.
31 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 810 m away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 30 report not discharging, and for 1 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
United Utilities · into Boathouse Sluice · 5.2 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
12 spills · 120 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
2 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 →
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 Newburgh flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 12 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 Fairly flashyResponds fairly quickly to rain, with moderate baseflow between events.
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
0.46
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,072 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
13%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
44.80 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
71.60 m³/s
26 Dec 2015 · 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.
Ultrasonic station with weir. Flow regime affected by headwater reservoirs which divert flow.
More detail
The catchment
Moderate to low relief catchment. Geology is Boulder Clay, peat and blown sand, underlain by Coal Measures in upper parts and Permo-Triassic sandstones lower down. Land-use predominantly rural; urban areas include Wigan and Skelmersdale. No significant catchment changes.
The station
Station opened in 1969 as velocity-area station with bed control. Non-standard shallow V weir installed in 1984. Station affected by tides so ultrasonics added in 1996.
How it measures flow
Installation of the weir in 1984 stabilised the control at low flows, but the weir is still drowned by tides. Scatter in gaugings is so large that peak flows are only presented since 1996. High flow gaugings are taken from a road bridge upstream or with portable cableway, or using an ADCP at the station. Rating also affected by weed growth downstream. Bypassing prevented by road embankments. Flood Studies Report grade B.
Flow regime
Flow regime and effective catchment modified by the Integrated Complex of eight reservoirs at Rivington which divert flow from the natural catchment of the River Yarrow to River Douglas. Wigan Flood Control Scheme (catchment area ~67.3km2) has restricted flows since March 2011.
The flow record
Peak flow data from the ultrasonic are thought to be acceptable. Pre-1996, peak flows are less reliable and are not presented. During the 2012/2013 AMAX event it is suspected a tree was blocking two ultrasonic paths. During the 2015/2016 AMAX event it is suspected there was a fault with half the ultrasonic paths. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2020 (WINFAP Files v9). No flows after 26/06/2020 due to telemetry problem.
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Douglas at Wanes Blades flooding today?
The current level is 1.01m, which is within the typical range of 0.29 to 2.75m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Wanes Blades?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently rising. 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 Douglas at Wanes Blades?
The typical range at this station is 0.29m to 2.75m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.75m 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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