Eden and Esk catchment
• Butterburn • Northumberland • ID: 763117 • Level
(21m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 120 views
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⤴Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
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You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.
You'll be notified when a new storm-overflow (sewage) discharge starts within ~3 km of this gauge, based on the water companies' near-real-time feeds.
Get notified when recent rainfall near this gauge crosses its learnt rise trigger — an early "watch"
signal, typically hours before a rise. Experimental; not an official flood warning.
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Current Level
0.309 m
▼ Easing
24h Max
0.590 m
24h Min
0.309 m
Typical Range
0.03 - 0.90
m
Highest Recorded
1.01 m
EA official record
1.01 in our data (since Jul 1991)
Current level is 31% of this
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
EA forecast (official)
Prediction V2
Prediction Eris
Nimbus beta
Experimental model fusing soil moisture, river flow, groundwater and catchment
character. The shaded band is its 10–90% range, widened so that about 80% of recent outcomes fall inside it.
Under evaluation — not yet promoted, so treat as a second opinion.
River Flow
90 days
Daily mean discharge (m³/s) with the daily min–max band, from the EA Hydrology API. Flow is the volume of water passing the gauge — often a more direct flood signal than level.
Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 8 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional)via EA Hydrology
None of the storm overflows FloodRadar holds is traced upstream of this gauge on the mapped river network. That is not the same as none: the map leaves out many small streams and culverts, so an overflow it cannot place may still drain here, and not every company publishes every overflow.
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 →
This gauge rarely reaches its typical high of 0.90 m:
3 days since 2017.
This year so far: 0 days.
20260 days so far
20250 days
20240 days
20230 days
20220 days
20210 days
20202 days
20191 day patchy data
20180 days
20170 days
Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out, so a year marked patchy may have run high more often than shown.
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2011 for the 2 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 9.8 km away).
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 Butterburn flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 2 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 FlashyRain 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
0.20
flashy — rain runs off fast
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,412 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +22% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.0%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
1.81 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
1.46 m³/s
15 Jan 2011 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
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 95%Grassland 2%Heath/scrub 3%
Grassland 5% → 2% since 1990
Photos
Gauging-station photographs from the National River Flow Archive (UKCEH).
Compound V notch and broad-crested weir in experimental catchment to study afforestation.
More detail
The catchment
Undulating upland catchment on Carboniferous L'st with Boulder Clay and blanket peat cover. Usage was entirely moorland before being afforested.
The station
Opened in 1965 as a compound Crump profile weir, 18.5ft wide overall, central notch 2.5ft wide with flanking crests 1ft higher and 7ft wide. Structure was affected by deterioration leading to its replacement by a compound broad-crested weir (with V-notch for low flows) in 1991. Small experimental catchment (with boundary ditches) to show the effects of afforestation from planting to canopy closure. Experiments jointly managed by EA, UKCEH forebears and the Forestry Commission. Central climate station and areal rainfall derived by UKCEH forebears using a small network of within-catchment raingauges. Record exceeds 40 years in length; a time series of major strategic importance.
How it measures flow
Weir does not drown at high flows. Two theoretical ratings (for Crump and broad-crested weirs) applied across relevant periods of record. Temporary rating prior to reopening in 1991 not held. Ratings checked against current meterings, but site has never been check-gauged at extreme flows. Difficulties in gauging at high flows, therefore a gauging platform was built 30m upstream where flow is confined and there is reasonable approach.
Flow regime
Natural, very responsive regime with near zero flows common in the summer months and no abstractions or additions. Drained summer 1972 in preparation for planting, creating stream density of about 200 km/km2 (about 60 times greater than original stream network). Sitka spruce planted 1973. Runoff (especially low and moderate flows) calculated to have increased after drainage; baseflow index also increased.
The flow record
Recent gaugings suggest that peak flows may be underestimated by up to 10%, and that further investigation is required. Exceptional August 1975 flood (triggered by 70-80 mm rain; percentage runoff approached 70%) was fully contained. Three extended periods of missing data in the peak flow record; Oct 1972 to July 1973, Dec 1983 to July 1991 (station rebuild) and June to Aug 2019 (telemetry rebuild). Data affected by the station rebuild are rejected. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in August 2024 (WINFAP Files v13).
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Coal Burn at Coalburn Beck flooding today?
The current level is 0.31m, which is within the typical range of 0.03 to 0.90m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Coalburn Beck?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling slightly. 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 Coal Burn at Coalburn Beck?
The typical range at this station is 0.03m to 0.90m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.90m 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:
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