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0.42

Littlethorpe

Soar
Soar catchment • Littlethorpe • Leicestershire • ID: 4082 • Level
(33m ago) • 3 readings/hr • 141 views

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Current Level
0.423 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.444 mASD
24h Min
0.407 mASD
Typical Range
0.46 - 2.13
mASD
Highest Recorded
4.55 mASD
25 Feb 2025
Since Nov 1981
Current level is 9% of this
Current Flow
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🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +1 cm over 6h
23 Aug 23:15 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
23 Aug 23:00 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
23 Aug 22:45 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
23 Aug 21:30 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.423 mASD
23 Aug 21:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.423 mASD
23 Aug 20:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.422 mASD
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.421 mASD
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.421 mASD
23 Aug 20:00 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.421 mASD
23 Aug 19:45 ▬ steady 0.419 mASD
23 Aug 19:30 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.419 mASD
23 Aug 19:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.417 mASD
23 Aug 19:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.416 mASD
23 Aug 18:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.415 mASD
23 Aug 18:30 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.414 mASD
23 Aug 18:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.412 mASD
23 Aug 18:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.411 mASD
23 Aug 17:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.410 mASD
23 Aug 17:30 0.409 mASD

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 15 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.3 km away).

40flood warnings 404flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 1 Mar 2026River Soar at Littlethorpe and Narborough

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 14 30
2025 6 13
2024 12 35
2023 1 24
2022 0 10
2021 0 10
2020 2 19
2019 0 29
2018 0 10
2017 0 5
2016 1 14
2015 0 4
2014 0 19
2013 0 18
2012 4 22
2010 0 7
2009 0 8
2008 0 38
2007 0 66
2006 0 23

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 Littlethorpe flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Littlethorpe
  • Watercourse: River Soar
  • Nearest Town: Littlethorpe
  • County: Leicestershire
  • Nearest reservoir: Cropston (13.2 km) · 35.8% full (as of 17 Aug 2026)
  • Coordinates: 52°34'17"N 1°12'5"W (52.571268, -1.201273)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Aug 1971
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 4082
  • EA Gauge ID: 4082-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 2 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Soar
  • Typical Range: 0.464 – 2.132 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 184 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.42 mASD (EA at 23 Aug 23:15)
  • 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.

Catchment Character

🌊 Fairly flashy Responds 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
0.45
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
680 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +2% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
4.4%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
16.32 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
21.60 m³/s
25 Nov 2012
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 1.364.790.6880.2435% (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 3%Grassland 40%Arable 44%Urban 12%Other 1%
Arable 50% → 44% since 1990

Flow affected by: effluent returns.

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

Electromagnetic gauge replaced with cross-correlation from April 2018. Downstream of a flood relief channel.

More detail

The catchment

Predominantly agricultural catchment just south of Leicester. Geology predominantly Mercia Mudstones overlain by extensive Boulder Clay and glacial gravel cover. Significant river terraces and alluvium in lower reaches.

The station

Cross-correlation gauge in a straight reach, replaced an electromagnetic gauge in April 2018. Flood relief channel joins on the right bank just upstream. Bypassed at high flows above 2.4mASD. Banks raised just upstream of station in 1998 to keep flows in bank to a higher stage. Replaced Narborough (28051) in 1982.

How it measures flow

Prone to weed growth. During electromagnetic data, a rating was used to derive flows above 2.3m when instrumentation underestimates. EM data during lowest flows unreliable due to very low velocities. Bypassed at high flows above 2.4mASD.

Flow regime

Substantial imports via WRW.

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
1971
Station datum
61.4 mAOD
Flow record
1971–2024 · 53 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1981
Hydrometric area
28
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Soar at Littlethorpe flooding today?

The current level is 0.42m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Littlethorpe?

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.

Why is the level slowly falling?

When little or no rain has fallen for a while, a river level gradually drops as the water stored in the ground and soil drains away with nothing to replace it. This is called baseflow recession and is normal in dry spells. A gentle decline like this is expected and is not a sign of a problem — downstream gauges often recede a little faster than headwaters further upstream, and levels recover once rain returns.

What is a normal level for the River Soar at Littlethorpe?

The typical range at this station is 0.46m to 2.13m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.13m 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:

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