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Water Level Rising
Peaked 1.07 at 01:15, now 0.95 and rising again (0.00 m/h)
0.95

South Wigston

Sence
Soar catchment • South Wigston • Leicestershire • ID: 4086 • Level
(39m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 166 views

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⤴ Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
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Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
0.949 mASD
▲ Rising
24h Max
1.070 mASD
24h Min
0.881 mASD
Typical Range
0.60 - 1.61
mASD
Highest Recorded
3.65 mASD
EA official record
3.64 in our data (since Jan 1989)
Current level is 26% of this
Current Flow
Loading...
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -10 cm over 6h
09 Oct 07:15 ▬ steady 0.949 mASD
09 Oct 07:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.949 mASD
09 Oct 06:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.948 mASD
09 Oct 06:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.947 mASD
09 Oct 06:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.949 mASD
09 Oct 06:00 ▼ -0.8 cm 0.951 mASD
09 Oct 05:30 ▼ -1 cm 0.959 mASD
09 Oct 05:00 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.970 mASD
09 Oct 04:45 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.974 mASD
09 Oct 04:30 ▼ -2 cm 0.978 mASD
09 Oct 04:00 ▼ -1 cm 0.994 mASD
09 Oct 03:45 ▼ -2 cm 1.005 mASD
09 Oct 03:30 ▼ -3 cm 1.020 mASD
09 Oct 03:00 ▼ -1 cm 1.050 mASD
09 Oct 02:45 ▼ -0.7 cm 1.060 mASD
09 Oct 02:30 ▼ -0.3 cm 1.067 mASD
09 Oct 02:15 ▲ +0.2 cm 1.070 mASD
09 Oct 02:00 ▲ +0.6 cm 1.068 mASD
09 Oct 01:45 ▲ +2 cm 1.062 mASD
09 Oct 01:30 1.046 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: South Wigston
  • Watercourse: River Sence
  • Nearest Town: South Wigston
  • County: Leicestershire
  • Nearest reservoir: Cropston (13.6 km) · 21.6% full (as of 5 Oct 2026)
  • Coordinates: 52°34'26"N 1°8'4"W (52.573856, -1.134530)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Aug 1971
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 4086
  • RLOI id: 2139 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 4086-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 4 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: 0.600 – 1.607 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 113 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 7 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: 0.95 mASD (EA at 9 Oct 07:00)
  • 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 upstream

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

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.

10 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 170 m away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 10 report not discharging.

💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Sence · 170 m upstream along the river
7 spills · 32 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Sence · 170 m upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Tributary Of River Sence · 2.2 km upstream along the river
28 spills · 234 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Kilby Brook · 6.1 km upstream along the river
2 spills · 17 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Countesthorpe Brook · 9.6 km upstream along the river
35 spills · 202 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Tributary Of Burton Brook · 13.9 km upstream along the river
43 spills · 348 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Sence (Soar Trib) · 14.3 km upstream along the river
8 spills · 78 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Burton Brook · 15.0 km upstream along the river
69 spills · 1,185 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

2 more further upstream, up to 20.6 km away along the river.

Nearby, connection not known

Within 6 km in a straight line, but the river map cannot say whether their water passes this gauge.

💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Sence · 180 m away in a straight line · its water cannot be followed on the map
3 spills · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Sence · 180 m away in a straight line · its water cannot be followed on the map
16 spills · 18 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Sence · 180 m away in a straight line · its water cannot be followed on the map
13 spills · 6 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Sence (Soar) (Trib) · 750 m away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
1 spill · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Tributary Of River Sence · 770 m away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
29 spills · 28 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Trib Of River Sence · 970 m away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
9 spills · 3 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Trib Of River Soar · 1.1 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
1 spill · 3 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Sence (Soar) · 2.0 km away in a straight line · its water cannot be followed on the map
10 spills · 50 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

40 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.

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 1.61 m on about 24 days. This year so far: 30 days.

2026 30 days, 11 of them high · 11 high so far
2025 20 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2024 50 days, 18 of them high · 18 high
2023 42 days, 11 of them high · 11 high
2022 14 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2021 19 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
2020 19 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
2019 33 days, 12 of them high · 12 high
2018 9 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2017 8 days, 2 of them high · 2 high

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 2.19 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 16 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.3 km away).

51flood warnings 324flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 1 Mar 2026 — River Soar at Braunstone

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 20 23
2025 7 8
2024 15 24
2023 3 13
2022 0 7
2021 0 7
2020 1 15
2019 0 23
2018 0 7
2017 0 4
2016 2 11
2015 0 4
2014 0 16
2013 0 15
2012 3 14
2010 0 6
2009 0 7
2008 0 33
2007 0 64
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 South Wigston flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 16 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 8 more

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
0.36
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
697 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
3.5%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
21.39 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
33.37 m³/s
2 Jan 2024 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.9693.720.4030.1335% (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 2%Grassland 46%Arable 43%Urban 10%
Grassland 51% → 46% since 1990

Flow affected by: effluent returns, industrial / agricultural abstraction.

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

LaserFlow Index Velocity gauge post-2017. Previously Electromagnetic gauge set in 1:1 formalised banks. Replaces Blaby (28054), daily flow records combined, but not peak flows.

More detail

The catchment

Moderate to low relief catchment to East and South of Leicester. Mainly Lower Lias (mudstones and limestone) but wholly blanketed by Boulder Clay and alluvium except for headwaters. Urbanised downstream end, otherwise arable and grazing land use.

The station

LaserFlow ultrasonic gauge under Crow Mill bridge from 2017 onwards. Early record from electromagnetic flow gauge just downstream of bridge.

How it measures flow

No bypassing - all flows contained. In 2002 the electromagnetic flows were out by 10% - a new coil/cable was installed in March 2002. Missing data July-December 2016 due to electromagnetic gauge failure. Gauge replaced with LaserFlow index velocity gauge in January 2017.

Flow regime

Moderately responsive. Substantially augmented by WRW discharges, particularly Wigston.

The flow record

Flow contained at high flows and fully measured. Early peak flow data are of poor quality, and are therefore rejected. Accuracy of electromagnetic gauge poor from 2006 until replacement in 2017. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in August 2025 (WINFAP Files v14).

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
1983
Station datum
66.5 mAOD
Flow record
1971–2024 · 53 yrs · 99% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1983
Hydrometric area
28
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Sence at South Wigston flooding today?

The current level is 0.95m, which is within the typical range of 0.60 to 1.61m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at South Wigston?

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.

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 Sence at South Wigston?

The typical range at this station is 0.60m to 1.61m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.61m 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.

Embed this gauge on your website

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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 →