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Water Level Easing
Easing — down from 0.45 at 11:30, now 0.42
0.42

Wray

Hindburn
Lune and Wyre catchment • Wray • Lancashire • ID: 724427 • Level
(28m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 196 views

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Current Level
0.423 m
▼ Easing
24h Max
0.565 m
24h Min
0.423 m
Typical Range
0.12 - 1.50
m
Highest Recorded
2.96 m
EA official record
2.96 in our data (since Feb 1976)
Current level is 14% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -1 cm over 5h
08 Oct 20:00 ▬ steady 0.423 m
08 Oct 19:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.423 m
08 Oct 19:30 ▬ steady 0.424 m
08 Oct 19:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.424 m
08 Oct 19:00 ▬ steady 0.426 m
08 Oct 18:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.426 m
08 Oct 18:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.425 m
08 Oct 18:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.426 m
08 Oct 18:00 ▬ steady 0.427 m
08 Oct 17:45 ▬ steady 0.427 m
08 Oct 17:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.427 m
08 Oct 17:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.428 m
08 Oct 17:00 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.429 m
08 Oct 16:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.431 m
08 Oct 16:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.432 m
08 Oct 16:15 ▬ steady 0.433 m
08 Oct 16:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.433 m
08 Oct 15:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.434 m
08 Oct 15:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.435 m
08 Oct 15:15 0.437 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Wray
  • Watercourse: River Hindburn
  • Nearest Town: Wray
  • County: Lancashire
  • Coordinates: 54°6'21"N 2°36'21"W (54.105893, -2.605757)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 1975
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 724427
  • RLOI id: 5156 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 724427-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 7 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Lune and Wyre
  • Typical Range: 0.116 – 1.500 m
  • Drainage Area: 84 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 6 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.42 m (EA at 8 Oct 19:45)
  • 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.

Nearby Stations

Gauges connected to this river, and others nearby. A distance “by river” follows the river on the map; any other is in a straight line.

Connected downstream

Same river system, separate branch

Nearby

Distances by river: OS Open Rivers. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

💧 Storm overflows upstream of this gauge

None of the storm overflows FloodRadar holds is traced upstream of this gauge on the mapped river network. That is not the same as none: the map leaves out many small streams and culverts, so an overflow it cannot place may still drain here, and not every company publishes every overflow.

6 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 →

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

How often this river runs high

In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 1.50 m on about 5 days. This year so far: 1 day.

2026 1 day, 1 of them high · 1 high so far
2025 5 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
2024 7 days, 6 of them high · 6 high
2023 6 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2022 0 days
2021 6 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2020 12 days, 8 of them high · 8 high
2019 4 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
2018 0 days
2017 5 days, 3 of them high · 3 high

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 1.63 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 10 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 2.1 km away).

14flood warnings 126flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 2 Nov 2020 — River Wenning at High Bentham, between Todd Hill Farm and the Sewage Works

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 6
2025 0 9
2024 0 8
2023 0 6
2022 0 2
2021 0 5
2020 5 9
2019 2 9
2018 0 3
2017 0 5
2016 1 3
2015 5 9
2014 0 6
2013 0 3
2012 1 9
2011 0 7
2010 0 4
2009 0 5
2008 0 4
2007 0 7
2006 0 7

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 Wray flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 10 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 2 more

Catchment Character

🌊 Flashy Rain runs off fast — levels rise and fall sharply, often within hours of heavy rain.

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
0.31
flashy — rain runs off fast
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,546 mm/yr
1991–2020 · -5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.1%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
133 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
115 m³/s
5 Dec 2015 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 3.0311.161.260.2515% (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 6%Grassland 50%Heath/scrub 44%
Heath/scrub 36% → 44% since 1990

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

Compound broad-crested weir in near natural catchment. Station closed in 1980 and re-opened 1991.

More detail

The catchment

Stream is steep and flashy. An almost entirely rural catchment with predominantly agricultural and moorland land use with little development. Designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. No significant catchment changes.

The station

Station opened in May 1967 as compound broad-crested weir; central crest 3.65m wide, two flanking crests each 7.4m wide and 0.38m higher. Station closed December 1980 (due to gravel problems) and re-opened January 1991 following inlet pipe improvements.

How it measures flow

No bypassing. High flow gaugings from nearby bridge or portable cableway. Two peak flow ratings applied across period of record. Flood Studies Report grade B.

Flow regime

Near natural catchment.

The flow record

Peak flow data are presented for the period of the improved station from 1991. A large flood occurred on 8/8/1967, which demolished 12 houses in the village of Wray. Maximum water level at gauging station levelled in at 4.91m above weir crest - thought to have resulted from backing-up from Meal Bank Bridge downstream before it collapsed, so stage doesn't represent the peak flow. Hydraulic Research Station (HRS) estimated peak as 637m3/s, though current estimate at Hornby downstream is less than this. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2020 (WINFAP Files v9).

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
Gauging structure
Operating since
1967
Station datum
127.7 mAOD
Flow record
1976–2024 · 48 yrs · 79% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1967
Hydrometric area
72
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Hindburn at Wray flooding today?

The current level is 0.42m, which is within the typical range of 0.12 to 1.50m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Wray?

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 Hindburn at Wray?

The typical range at this station is 0.12m to 1.50m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.50m 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:

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