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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.
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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
0.261 m
▲ Rising
24h Max
0.377 m
24h Min
0.224 m
Typical Range
0.21 - 3.60
m
Highest Recorded
6.31 m
EA official record
A 9.73 reading (3 Sep 2025) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 4% of this
Current Flow
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🚽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
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.
308 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 3.9 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 293 report not discharging, and for 15 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
Yorkshire Water · into Not Matched In Ea Consents Database · 2.2 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
14 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.
4 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 →
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 Bentley flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 29 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 Fairly flashyResponds 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
0.49
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
833 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
13%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
162 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
357 m³/s
8 Nov 2019 · 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.
Ultrasonic/Velocity Area station in the centre of Doncaster. Heavily urbanised catchment and numerous artificial influences on the flow regime.
More detail
The catchment
The catchment drains the east flank of the Pennines above Chesterfield, Sheffield and Barnsley. Mixed geology: Millstone Grit (headwaters), Coal Measures, Magnesian Limestone and Triassic Sandstones. Moorland headwaters, mixed agriculture in valleys along with significant industrialisation and urbanisation, including Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster. The eastern part of the catchment is low-lying, and was historically marshland, being drained in the 17th and 18th centuries by Dutch engineers. Historic tree-clearing, particularly in the Rother and Dearne valleys. Old mining areas are commonly subject to subsequent land-subsidence which poses a problem for the extensive raised flood banks. Once agricultural, Doncaster and Askern are now largely urbanised. Recent landscaping of Rother Country Park included significant tree planting. River regulators have been introduced over a period of time from 1958 to 1988.
The station
Full range ultrasonic since 2000 in the centre of Doncaster. Previously a velocity-area station, 24m wide, formerly with cableway in a straight, embanked open channel reach from 1958. The ultrasonics are in an open channel control with significant hysteresis. New road bridge completed January 2001. Stage Discharge rating still preferred for peak flows.
How it measures flow
By-passing via the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation, 1km upstream and measured at Long Sandall Lock. Significant scatter in gaugings above 1m stage. Recalibrated in late 1970s following removal of rubble weir (low flow control) due to measurement problems. Gauge zero was raised 1m in April 1978. Daily mean flow rating reviewed in 2014: Rating D implemented 11/01/1978-31/12/2000, Rating E implemented 01/01/2001 to present. Rated by check gauging (by cableway 1977 to 2000). Extrapolated above 5.49m. Full range ultrasonic available since December 2000. Flood Studies Report (1975) grade A1 to 2.3m, B above this.
Flow regime
River regulators and sluices on the Rother and Dearne tributaries control the operation of washlands in large floods. The heavily reservoired Don headwaters and Chesterfield and Clowne areas provide for a net import for supply via supply from the Derwent Valley and groundwater abstractions.
The flow record
Intermittent records exist for as early as 1868 (see FSR), but they are not considered reliable, or representative of the modern catchment. Channel improvements, carried out in 1957, lowered water levels in the lower Don. Missing data 1976-1977 due to rubble weir removal. Post-1977 flows reprocessed in 2014. November 2000 flood peak is believed to be underestimated. June 2007 flood peak gauged at c.350 cumecs by ADVP. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in August 2021 (WINFAP Files v10).
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Don at Doncaster flooding today?
The current level is 0.26m, which is within the typical range of 0.21 to 3.60m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Doncaster?
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.
What is a normal level for the River Don at Doncaster?
The typical range at this station is 0.21m 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:
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8 Nov 2019 Ultrasonic transducer racks
8 Nov 2019 View downstream towards gauge from left bank
27 Oct 2019 View downstream from right bank
1 Jun 2007 View downstream from right bank
Recorder and gauging hut looking d/s. Old weir was below railway bridge.
Regulation u/s of Doncaster; looking u/s
From below regulator looking d/s towards road bridge and gauging station.
View upstream from section in high flow during June 2007 event
View upstream from section during in November 2019 event (6.3m stage)
View upstream from section
View downstream from gauge during 2007 high flow event
View downstream from gauge October 2019 high flow (5.3m stage)
View downstream from gauge in November 2019 event (6.3m stage)
Water level up on transducer racks during November 2019 event (6.23m stage)