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0.09

Abbey Heath

Little Ouse
Cam and Ely Ouse (Including South Level) catchment • Abbey Heath • Norfolk • ID: E23730 • Level
(21m ago) • 3 readings/hr • 140 views

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Current Level
0.088 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.107 m
24h Min
0.084 m
Typical Range
0.13 - 0.50
m
Highest Recorded
1.22 m
EA official record
A 1.58 reading (18 Sep 1968) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 7% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +0.3 cm over 6h
08 Oct 10:30 ▬ steady 0.088 m
08 Oct 10:00 ▬ steady 0.088 m
08 Oct 09:45 ▬ steady 0.088 m
08 Oct 09:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.088 m
08 Oct 09:15 ▬ steady 0.087 m
08 Oct 08:45 ▬ steady 0.087 m
08 Oct 08:30 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.087 m
08 Oct 08:00 ▬ steady 0.084 m
08 Oct 07:45 ▬ steady 0.084 m
08 Oct 07:30 ▬ steady 0.084 m
08 Oct 07:15 ▬ steady 0.084 m
08 Oct 07:00 ▬ steady 0.084 m
08 Oct 06:45 ▬ steady 0.084 m
08 Oct 06:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.084 m
08 Oct 06:15 ▬ steady 0.085 m
08 Oct 06:00 ▬ steady 0.085 m
08 Oct 05:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.085 m
08 Oct 05:30 ▬ steady 0.084 m
08 Oct 05:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.084 m
08 Oct 05:00 0.085 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Abbey Heath
  • Watercourse: River Little Ouse
  • Nearest Town: Abbey Heath
  • County: Norfolk
  • Coordinates: 52°25'33"N 0°43'15"E (52.425882, 0.720787)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 11 Jun 1980
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E23730
  • RLOI id: 6247 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E23730-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 1 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Cam and Ely Ouse (Including South Level)
  • Typical Range: 0.127 – 0.500 m
  • Drainage Area: 689 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: 0.09 m (EA at 8 Oct 10:00)
  • 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

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

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.

9 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 1.3 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 9 report not discharging.

💧
Anglian Water · into River Little Ouse · 1.3 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Anglian Water · into River Little Ouse · 1.3 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Anglian Water · into River Little Ouse · 2.6 km upstream along the river
1 spill · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Anglian Water · into Tributary River Thet · 33.7 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Anglian Water · into Tributary River Thet · 35.1 km upstream along the river
2 spills · 4 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Anglian Water · into River Sapiston · 36.8 km upstream along the river
38 spills · 375 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Anglian Water · into Upper River Crouch · 37.0 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
Placed on the river by its position alone.
💧
Anglian Water · into Culverted Tributary R Thet · 37.0 km upstream along the river
1 spill · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

1 more further upstream, up to 37.6 km away along the river.

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 0.50 m on about 26 days. This year so far: 1 day.

2026 1 day so far
2025 0 days
2024 59 days, 17 of them high · 17 high
2023 46 days, 6 of them high · 6 high
2022 4 days
2021 57 days, 9 of them high · 9 high
2020 29 days, 6 of them high · 6 high
2019 6 days
2018 28 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2017 1 day

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 0.72 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2020 for the 1 flood area linked to this gauge (nearest 2.5 km away).

1flood warning 0flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 26 Dec 2020 — Little Ouse River and River Thet at Thetford, Brandon and Hockwold

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 Abbey Heath flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. This is the area linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Catchment Character

🌊 Groundwater-fed Slow and steady — fed largely by groundwater, so levels change gradually, not in sudden spikes.

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
0.69
groundwater-fed — slow & steady
Avg Annual Rainfall
642 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.7%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
15.55 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
33.08 m³/s
27 Dec 2020 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 3.749.582.771.035% (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 14%Grassland 28%Arable 53%Urban 5%
Arable 66% → 53% since 1990

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, 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

Rectangular section Crump profile weir gauging predominantly rural, Chalk catchment with some artificial influences.Eel tiles installed.

More detail

The catchment

Chalk with largely overlain with superficial deposits, mainly Boulder Clay. Predominantly arable with significant areas of forest and heathland, particularly in centre and E. Urban development (Thetford) just u/s of station.

The station

Rectangular section Crump profile weir with downstream recorder. Replaced 33008 (Thetford Staunch) in 1968.

How it measures flow

Weir subject to drowning and spills on rare occasions, with a very small amount of bypassing on left bank at high flows, but potential for further erosion. Subject to weed growth, on crest and in channel. One peak flow rating applied across period of record, not thought to account for out of bank flows.

Flow regime

Affected by gw abstraction/recharge and, since the late 1980s, low flows augmented with groundwater in drought conditions. Abstraction mainly for industry and agriculture. Some effluent returns.

The flow record

Instrument hut vandalised in August 2000 and rebuilt in 2001/2002, peak flow data missing until August 2002. 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
Crump weir
Operating since
1968
Station datum
7.2 mAOD
Flow record
1968–2024 · 56 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1968
Hydrometric area
33
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Little Ouse at Abbey Heath flooding today?

The current level is 0.09m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Abbey Heath?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. 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 Little Ouse at Abbey Heath?

The typical range at this station is 0.13m to 0.50m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.50m 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.

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 →