Ribble Douglas and Crossens catchment
• Whalley • Lancashire • ID: 712615 • Level
(23m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 140 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
0.694 m
▼ Easing
24h Max
1.455 m
24h Min
0.694 m
Typical Range
0.33 - 3.33
m
Highest Recorded
4.64 m
EA official record
4.64 in our data (since Jun 1973)
Current level is 15% of this
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
EA forecast (official)
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.
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.
51 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 5.9 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 51 report not discharging.
United Utilities · into Showley Brook · 5.7 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
1 spill · 7 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
11 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 Whalley flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 21 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
0.40
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,252 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
10%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
174 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
248 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.
Flat V weir in channel prone to severe weed growth.
More detail
The catchment
Geology mainly Coal Measures and Millstone Grit overlain by Boulder Clay. Catchment includes Accrington, Burnley and Nelson (approx 20% urban overall); extensive moorland above the towns. No significant catchment changes.
The station
Originally a velocity area station based on timber weir, built in 1961. Replaced by Flat V weir 30m downstream in October 1970. Weir 24.4 m wide with 1:20 cross slopes.
How it measures flow
Weir drowns at high flows. Station prone to severe weed growth problems and vandalism. Flows above about 4m extend out of bank, behind cableway. Current meter gaugings for high flows are undertaken from upstream cableway. Two peak flow ratings applied across period of record; pre- and post-weir ratings have good fit to gaugings. Rating derived from current meter gauging with modelled top-end.
Flow regime
Minor direct abstractions. Many industrial discharges, effluent pollution.
The flow record
Gauged daily flows: no data 10/1971 to 12/1973 and 9-12/1975. 5/1970 values estimated by UKCEH using 71001. Peak flows: data presented for the Flat V station only, from 1970. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8).
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Flat-V weir
Operating since
1963
Station datum
39.9 mAOD
Flow record
1963–2024 · 61 yrs · 96% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1961
Hydrometric area
71
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Calder at Whalley Weir flooding today?
The current level is 0.69m, which is within the typical range of 0.33 to 3.33m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Whalley Weir?
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 Calder at Whalley Weir?
The typical range at this station is 0.33m to 3.33m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 3.33m 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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21 Jan 2008 Downstream with floodplain
21 Jan 2008 Downstream channel
1983
1983
1983
View looking d/s of weir and catchment
Weir looking across from R bank