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0.38

Buildwas

Severn
Worcestershire Middle Severn catchment • Buildwas • Shropshire • ID: 2134 • Level
(21m ago) • 1 reading/hr • 290 views

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Current Level
0.376 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.396 mASD
24h Min
0.376 mASD
Typical Range
0.42 - 3.40
mASD
Highest Recorded
12.28 mASD
2 May 2025
Since Sep 1977
Current level is 3% of this
Current Flow
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🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.6 cm over 6h
23 Aug 22:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.376 mASD
23 Aug 21:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.377 mASD
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.378 mASD
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.378 mASD
23 Aug 20:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.378 mASD
23 Aug 20:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.379 mASD
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.380 mASD
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.380 mASD
23 Aug 19:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.380 mASD
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.381 mASD
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.381 mASD
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.381 mASD
23 Aug 18:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.381 mASD
23 Aug 18:30 ▬ steady 0.382 mASD
23 Aug 18:15 ▬ steady 0.382 mASD
23 Aug 18:00 ▬ steady 0.382 mASD
23 Aug 17:45 ▬ steady 0.382 mASD
23 Aug 17:30 ▬ steady 0.382 mASD
23 Aug 17:15 ▬ steady 0.382 mASD
23 Aug 17:00 0.382 mASD

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2011 for the 4 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.1 km away).

4severe warnings 49flood warnings 0flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 16 Nov 2025River Severn at Ironbridge and Jackfield

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2025 0 1 0
2024 0 8 0
2023 0 7 0
2022 1 5 0
2021 0 5 0
2020 3 8 0
2019 0 5 0
2016 0 1 0
2015 0 1 0
2014 0 3 0
2013 0 2 0
2012 0 2 0
2011 0 1 0

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 Buildwas flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Buildwas
  • Watercourse: River Severn
  • Nearest Town: Buildwas
  • County: Shropshire
  • Coordinates: 52°38'11"N 2°31'30"W (52.636354, -2.524962)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 7 Sep 1977
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 2134
  • EA Gauge ID: 2134-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 3 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Worcestershire Middle Severn
  • Typical Range: 0.424 – 3.400 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 3,717 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.38 mASD (EA at 23 Aug 22:15)
  • 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.

Catchment Character

🌊 Mixed response A balance of quick runoff and slower groundwater baseflow.

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
0.53
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,020 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.6%
largely rural
Highest Recorded Flow
664 m³/s
22 Feb 2022
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 61.8020834.3011.605% (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 10%Grassland 61%Arable 22%Heath/scrub 3%Urban 3%Other 1%

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

A Ultrasonic gauging station which can be affected by substantial modifications during low flows.

More detail

The catchment

Large diverse catchment. Geology largely mixed Palaeozoic formations with moorland and forestry land use in the wet headwaters. Permian Sandstones dominate in the lower reaches with extensive Drift cover of Boulder Clay and sands and gravels and mixed farming landuse.

The station

Multiple US cross-configuration gauging station.

How it measures flow

Following refurbishment of the ultrasonic gauge in 2005, only lower racks working until March 2008, possible over-estimation of high flows under review. Flows fully contained by Buildwas Bridge and floodbanks.

Flow regime

Substantial modifications of lowest flows by Clywedog and Vyrnwy Reservoirs and Shropshire Groundwater Scheme; otherwise artificial effects modest.

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
1984
Station datum
36.0 mAOD
Flow record
1984–2024 · 40 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
54
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Severn at Buildwas flooding today?

The current level is 0.38m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Buildwas?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, updated roughly every 15 minutes.

What is a normal level for the River Severn at Buildwas?

The typical range at this station is 0.42m to 3.40m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 3.40m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.

How often is this river level data updated?

Readings are taken by the Environment Agency gauge roughly every 15 minutes and FloodRadar refreshes its data continuously, so the level shown is normally less than an hour old.

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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, floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →