Ribble Douglas and Crossens catchment
• Samlesbury • Lancashire • ID: 713019 • Level
(32m ago) • 3 readings/hr • 165 views
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Current Level
0.907 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
1.007 m
24h Min
0.907 m
Typical Range
1.14 - 4.83
m
Highest Recorded
7.65 m
23 Jan 2015
Since Jan 1976
Current level is 12% of this
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
Prediction V2
Prediction Eris
Nimbus beta
Experimental model fusing soil moisture, river flow, groundwater and catchment
character. Shown with its calibrated 10–90% confidence band. 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.
Long Term
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
—
Consecutive rainy days0 → 10+
Days Above Normal
This year vs 5-year monthly range
Recent Readings
Falling · -1 cm over 6h
23 Aug 23:15▬ steady0.907 m
23 Aug 23:00▬ steady0.907 m
23 Aug 22:45▼ -0.1 cm0.907 m
23 Aug 21:30▬ steady0.908 m
23 Aug 21:15▼ -0.1 cm0.908 m
23 Aug 21:00▬ steady0.909 m
23 Aug 20:45▬ steady0.909 m
23 Aug 20:30▼ -0.1 cm0.909 m
23 Aug 20:15▬ steady0.910 m
23 Aug 20:00▼ -0.1 cm0.910 m
23 Aug 19:45▬ steady0.911 m
23 Aug 19:30▼ -0.1 cm0.911 m
23 Aug 19:15▬ steady0.912 m
23 Aug 19:00▼ -0.1 cm0.912 m
23 Aug 18:45▬ steady0.913 m
23 Aug 18:30▼ -0.1 cm0.913 m
23 Aug 18:15▬ steady0.914 m
23 Aug 18:00▬ steady0.914 m
23 Aug 17:45▼ -0.3 cm0.914 m
23 Aug 17:300.917 m
Rainfall & Weather
Loading rainfall and weather data...
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 19 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.7 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 Samlesbury flood history.
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
🌊 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
0.37
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,420 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +7% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
3.8%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
601 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
765 m³/s
27 Oct 1980
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.
Velocity area station; the most downstream on the Ribble, just upstream of the tidal limit.
More detail
The catchment
A large catchment of mixed geology with Carboniferous Limestone, Millstone Grit and Coal Measures overlain with Boulder Clay. Predominantly rural, apart from urban areas of Burnley and Nelson. No significant catchment changes.
The station
Velocity area station built in 1960. Cableway. An additional station was built 1km upstream in October 1970 to measure low/medium flows; a compound Flat V weir with flanking crests. This additional station closed 1981 due to vandalism; subsequently re-opened July 1991 and closed again February 2010.
How it measures flow
Natural gravel shoal control affected by silt and summer weed, just u/s of the tidal limit. No bypassing. Good high flow rating from permanent cableway. Inlet blockage has been a continual problem, affecting many peaks. Multiple peak flow ratings applied across period of record. Works downstream between 1993-95, required different low flow ratings applied before, during, and after these works.
Flow regime
Some small reservoirs in the catchment, but without significant impact on flow regime.
The flow record
All data presented are for the velocity area station, with some infilling from the additional station. December 2010 measurements affected by ice. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8). Flows prior to 1973 datum change thought to be overestimated and are rejected.
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Gauging structure
Operating since
1960
Station datum
9.5 mAOD
Flow record
1960–2024 · 64 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1960
Hydrometric area
71
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Possible storm-overflow correlation
🚽 Storm overflows on this river
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Ribble at Samlesbury flooding today?
The current level is 0.91m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Samlesbury?
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 Ribble at Samlesbury?
The typical range at this station is 1.14m to 4.83m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 4.83m 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.
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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:
