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Water Level Rising
0.37

Beal Weir Bridge

Aire ⚙ Structure
Aire and Calder catchment • Beal • North Yorkshire • ID: F1806 • Level
(31m ago) • 2 readings/hr • 169 views

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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
0.371 m
▲ Rising (+3cm/hr)
24h Max
0.431 m
24h Min
0.339 m
Typical Range
0.32 - 3.60
m
Highest Recorded
4.13 m
EA official record
4.13 in our data (since Oct 1976)
Current level is 9% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

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.

Recent Readings

Falling · -4 cm over 7h
09 Oct 13:30 ▲ +2 cm 0.371 m
09 Oct 13:00 ▲ +0.9 cm 0.354 m
09 Oct 12:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.345 m
09 Oct 12:15 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.347 m
09 Oct 11:45 ▲ +1 cm 0.351 m
09 Oct 11:30 ▼ -0.7 cm 0.339 m
09 Oct 11:15 ▼ -1 cm 0.346 m
09 Oct 11:00 ▼ -1 cm 0.359 m
09 Oct 10:45 ▼ -3 cm 0.372 m
09 Oct 10:15 ▬ steady 0.398 m
09 Oct 10:00 ▬ steady 0.398 m
09 Oct 09:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.398 m
09 Oct 09:15 ▬ steady 0.399 m
09 Oct 09:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.399 m
09 Oct 08:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.400 m
09 Oct 08:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.401 m
09 Oct 07:45 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.402 m
09 Oct 07:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.405 m
09 Oct 07:15 ▬ steady 0.407 m
09 Oct 06:45 0.406 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Beal Weir Bridge
  • Watercourse: River Aire
  • Nearest Town: Beal
  • County: North Yorkshire
  • Nearest reservoir: Ardsley Esr (23.9 km) · 63.8% full (as of 28 Sep 2026)
  • Coordinates: 53°43'24"N 1°11'54"W (53.723209, -1.198257)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 2 Oct 1976
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: F1806
  • RLOI id: 8017 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: F1806-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 3 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: ⚙ Yes — lock, weir, sluice or pump
  • Catchment Area: Aire and Calder
  • Typical Range: 0.320 – 3.600 m
  • Drainage Area: 1,932 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: 0.35 m (EA at 9 Oct 13:00)
  • 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.

557 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 3.5 km away along the river. 5 report discharging now, 534 report not discharging, and for 18 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.

💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Aire · 3.5 km upstream along the river
33 spills · 315 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Aire · 3.5 km upstream along the river
26 spills · 186 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Aire · 7.6 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Fryston Beck · 7.7 km upstream along the river
18 spills · 75 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Aire · 9.8 km upstream along the river
8 spills · 16 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Aire · 9.8 km upstream along the river
53 spills · 90 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Aire · 10.1 km upstream along the river
13 spills · 11 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Aire · 11.4 km upstream along the river
10 spills · 41 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

549 more further upstream, up to 106.5 km away along the river.

Also discharging now further upstream: Thistle Street CSO (66.3 km), Keighley (Marley) STW (66.8 km), Meltham STW (77.7 km), Skipton Sewage Treatment Works (84.9 km), Crow Nest Bridge CSO (86.8 km).

Nearby, connection not known

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

💧
Yorkshire Water · into Tributary Of River Aire · 1.2 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
1 spill · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Town Dyke · 2.7 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
33 spills · 89 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Blowell Drain · 4.3 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
8 spills · 55 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Cemetary Drain · 4.8 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
5 spills · 24 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Aire & Calder Navigation · 5.0 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
24 spills · 50 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Ings And Tetherings Drain · 5.6 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
3 spills · 22 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

1 other overflow within 6 km is downstream of this gauge or on another branch of the river network, so it is 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 3.60 m on about 5 days. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 3 days
2024 3 days
2023 6 days
2022 4 days
2021 6 days
2020 12 days
2019 10 days
2018 2 days
2017 0 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2011 for the 25 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.4 km away).

49flood warnings 32flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 7 Jan 2025 — River Aire at Hirst Marsh and West Marsh

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2025 1 3
2024 9 2
2023 5 3
2022 6 2
2021 6 3
2020 10 3
2019 1 3
2015 8 3
2014 0 1
2013 1 1
2012 2 7
2011 0 1

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 Beal flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 25 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 17 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
0.48
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,019 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
13%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
293 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
324 m³/s
27 Dec 2015 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 37.8911224.209.665% (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 7%Grassland 50%Arable 6%Heath/scrub 12%Urban 24%Other 1%
Arable 11% → 6% since 1990

Flow affected by: surface-water abstraction, public water supply, 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

Combined record of Beal Weir (pre-1995) and velocity area station (post-1995). The heavily reservoired catchment drains a large part of the East Pennines.

More detail

The catchment

Catchment drains a large tract of the East side of the Pennines, including the catchments of the rivers Colne, Calder and Aire. The geology is mixed with Carboniferous Limestone in the upper Aire, Millstone Grit and Coal Measures in the Calder and mid-Aire, Magnesian Limestone, Marl and Triassic Sandstone in the lower catchment. Some superficial deposits. Mixed land use, with extensive around a fifth of the catchment is urbanised areas. The headwaters are predominantly rural moorland and are used for rough grazing. Areas of heavy urbanisation and significant industry in the mid catchment which includes the Leeds-Bradford conurbation. Agriculture, including significant arable, continues in the lower reaches. 11.6% of the total catchment drains through around 50 reservoirs, the larger of which include Butterley (Colne), Ryburn, Boothwood (Calder), Winterburn, Ponden and Hewenden (Aire). Considerable increases in urban development and industry during the period of record. Ongoing decline of the coal mining industry around Knottingley and Pontefract.

The station

Broad-crested masonry weir (33.5m wide) with an additional 9.1m of sluices on the right bank, acts as the control at this site. A long established station, 7 km upstream of the tidal limit of the Aire (Haddlesey Weir). The original gauge was on the weir, with a cableway 4.5km u/s (led to limited low flow accuracy); improved performance using new site for cableway and instruments (500m u/s of weir) from June 1993. Flow records combined.

How it measures flow

Non-standard weir control rated by gaugings. Bypassing over the left bank begins at around 3.8m stage (at new station) and occurs on a roughly annual basis. At around QMED, flows inundate extensive N bank washlands. By-passing via the Aire and Calder navigation at Ferrybridge (measured at Whitley Lock); thus sum of upstream tributary flow volume at Lemonroyd (27080) and Methley (27079) is 5-12% greater than flow at Beal. Four peak flow ratings applied across period of record, two at old Beal and two at new Beal, latest revision was in 2016. Numerous problems resulting in Flood Studies Report grade Z in 1975, now graded A1, although the site still suffers regular overtopping into washlands on its left bank.

Flow regime

Heavily reservoired including the following groups - Aire (controlling 4.6% of total area), Calder (4.6%), Colne (2.1%). A complex water utilisation network exists, with net imports from the rivers Nidd, Wharfe, Ure and Derwent returned to the Aire upstream of the gauge vie sewage treatment works discharges. Large abstraction made to the Goole and Knottingley Canal upstream of the station. Heavily industrialised with abstractions made to Ferrybridge power station.

The flow record

Neither the recorder nor cableway was able to measure the full range of flows until after the 1940s. Early peaks flattened by limited pen-range and original theoretical formula was not held to be accurate due to use of timber 'deals' and drowning of the weir at around 1m head. Flood peaks are still truncated due to spill into washlands limiting the peak level reached at the gauge. Q95 has decreased significantly in the recent past, which is thought to be due to increasing abstractions for canal. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8).

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
1962
Station datum
5.5 mAOD
Flow record
1958–2024 · 66 yrs · 99% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1958
Hydrometric area
27
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Aire at Beal Weir Bridge flooding today?

The current level is 0.37m, which is within the typical range of 0.32 to 3.60m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Beal Weir Bridge?

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. Only about 4.8mm of rain has fallen nearby in the last 7 days, so the flow is being sustained mainly by groundwater. 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 Aire at Beal Weir Bridge?

The typical range at this station is 0.32m to 3.60m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 3.60m 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 →