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0.37

Briggswath

Esk
Esk and Coast catchment • Briggswath • North Yorkshire • ID: F2902 • Level
(21m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 168 views

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Current Level
0.371 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.375 m
24h Min
0.331 m
Typical Range
0.36 - 1.30
m
Highest Recorded
4.00 m
EA official record
3.95 in our data (since Oct 1992)
Current level is 9% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 5h
08 Oct 16:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.371 m
08 Oct 16:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.370 m
08 Oct 16:15 ▬ steady 0.371 m
08 Oct 16:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.371 m
08 Oct 15:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.372 m
08 Oct 15:30 ▬ steady 0.373 m
08 Oct 15:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.373 m
08 Oct 15:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.374 m
08 Oct 14:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.375 m
08 Oct 14:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.374 m
08 Oct 14:15 ▬ steady 0.375 m
08 Oct 14:00 ▬ steady 0.375 m
08 Oct 13:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.375 m
08 Oct 13:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.374 m
08 Oct 13:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.373 m
08 Oct 13:00 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.374 m
08 Oct 12:45 ▬ steady 0.372 m
08 Oct 12:30 ▬ steady 0.372 m
08 Oct 12:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.372 m
08 Oct 11:45 0.371 m

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Briggswath
  • Watercourse: River Esk
  • Nearest Town: Briggswath
  • County: North Yorkshire
  • Coordinates: 54°27'44"N 0°39'16"W (54.462097, -0.654478)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 2 Oct 1992
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: F2902
  • RLOI id: 8233 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: F2902-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: Esk and Coast
  • Typical Range: 0.361 – 1.300 m
  • Drainage Area: 325 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: 0.37 m (EA at 8 Oct 16:15)
  • 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.

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

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.

17 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 430 m away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 17 report not discharging.

💧
Yorkshire Water · into Tributary Of River Esk · 430 m upstream along the river
6 spills · 13 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Iburndale Beck · 780 m upstream along the river
19 spills · 64 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Iburndale Beck · 1.4 km upstream along the river
1 spill · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Esk · 7.9 km upstream along the river
22 spills · 180 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Esk · 7.9 km upstream along the river
21 spills · 43 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Esk · 10.4 km upstream along the river
37 spills · 150 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Tributary Of West Beck · 15.0 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Esk · 15.2 km upstream along the river
79 spills · 472 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

9 more further upstream, up to 38.2 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.

💧
Yorkshire Water · into Ditch · 680 m away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
13 spills · 82 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Trib Of River Esk · 1.3 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
2 spills · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Ditch · 1.8 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
1 spill · 4 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Esk · 1.9 km away in a straight line · discharges into a tidal reach, where the water moves both ways
67 spills · 292 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Yorkshire Water · into River Esk (Tidal) · 1.9 km away in a straight line · discharges to the sea, an estuary or tidal water
29 spills · 69 hours in 2025
Monitor offline: it cannot say whether it is discharging
💧
Yorkshire Water · into Bagdale Beck · 2.8 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
3 spills · 2 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Whitby Golf Course CSO🏊 Bathing water
Yorkshire Water · into Trib Of Upgang Beck · 3.3 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
9 spills · 14 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Sandsend SPS🏊 Bathing water
Yorkshire Water · into Upgang Beck · 3.4 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
3 spills · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

12 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.

2 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 1.30 m on about 13 days. This year so far: 6 days.

2026 6 days so far
2025 13 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
2024 17 days, 8 of them high · 8 high
2023 22 days, 9 of them high · 9 high
2022 4 days, 1 of them high · 1 high
2021 22 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
2020 15 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
2019 10 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
2018 9 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2017 9 days, 1 of them high · 1 high

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 1.92 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2011 for the 7 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.1 km away).

1severe warning 111flood warnings 214flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 5 Feb 2026 — North Sea at Sandsend

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 2 13
2025 0 2 12
2024 0 16 27
2023 0 12 14
2022 0 3 13
2021 0 11 16
2020 0 9 19
2019 0 6 17
2018 0 9 19
2017 0 13 11
2016 0 6 13
2015 0 7 13
2014 0 5 12
2013 1 5 4
2012 0 3 4
2011 0 2 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 Briggswath flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 7 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

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
0.35
flashy — rain runs off fast
Avg Annual Rainfall
934 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.4%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
136 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
142 m³/s
5 Mar 1999 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 4.8717.462.350.6245% (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 11%Grassland 34%Arable 1%Heath/scrub 53%Urban 1%

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

Multi-path ultrasonic station in a permeable catchment in the North York Moors. Replaced Esk at Sleights (27050); combined record held at Briggswath.

More detail

The catchment

Permeable headwaters (Jurassic limestone of the North York Moors) thence mainly Middle Oolite and Middle Lias; extensive Drift cover. A rural catchment with moorland headwaters. No known catchment changes.

The station

Multi-path ultrasonic station installed at Briggswath in a stable, 30m wide channel in 1992. Gauge has a tendency to drop out on the rising limb of the hydrograph, due to long path lengths and high suspended solids. Station replaced 27050 (Sleights, closed January 1998) in 1992, which was a velocity area station with a broad-crested masonry weir and a fish pass on left bank.

How it measures flow

Five ratings across the period of record (three for Sleights data, two for Briggswath data). At Briggswath, there is the same limb for peak flows but different lower flow limbs due to a hydro-electric power abstraction downstream at Ruswarp weir from 2012 altering the low flow control. The ultrasonic gauge is not affected by the hydro-electric power, at low flow the rating is just used for infilling gaps. The high flow rating is not affected by the hydro-electric power and is still used in preference to the ultrasonic for peak flows. Cableway gaugings extend to a reasonable level. At Sleights, the weir (25m wide) had a 1m long crest (5.59 mAOD) and a fish pass (11.73m wide and 0.71m lower). Low flows were contained in the fish pass that was restored in 1993 but with no change to the rating. Largest events at Sleights were out of bank.

Flow regime

Responsive and sensibly natural flow regime with no known artificial influences noted at either of the merged sites.

The flow record

Following statistical assessment of continuity, mean and peak flow data are combined records for Sleights (27050) and Briggswath (27092); POT thresholds prior to merge were 59.986 and 57.784, respectively. Full period of record 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
Ultrasonic
Operating since
1992
Station datum
7.0 mAOD
Flow record
1970–2024 · 54 yrs · 97% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1992
Hydrometric area
27
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Esk at Briggswath flooding today?

The current level is 0.37m, which is within the typical range of 0.36 to 1.30m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Briggswath?

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 Esk at Briggswath?

The typical range at this station is 0.36m to 1.30m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.30m 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 →