Don and Rother catchment
• Rotherham • South Yorkshire • ID: F0600 • Level
(33m ago) • 2 readings/hr • 150 views
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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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Current Level
0.193 m
▼ Falling
24h Max
0.254 m
24h Min
0.191 m
Typical Range
0.23 - 1.70
m
Highest Recorded
3.32 m
EA official record
3.03 in our data (since Nov 2005)
Current level is 6% 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
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.
212 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 340 m away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 201 report not discharging, and for 11 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
Yorkshire Water · into River Moss · 1.9 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
24 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.
11 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 Rotherham flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 26 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
0.46
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
900 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
14%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
153 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
394 m³/s
25 Jun 2007 · 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.
A large masonry weir at an angle to the u/s channel. Heavily influenced by headwater reservoirs. Station closed in December 1971. Reopened in 2005, initially as a level only station but subsequently re-rated and flows calculated again from 8/11/2005.
More detail
The catchment
Mixed geology: Millstone Grit (headwaters), Coal Measures, Magnesian Limestone and Triassic Sandstones. Moorland headwaters, mixed agriculture in valleys with significant urban areas, including Sheffield. Headwaters are heavily reservoired. Decline of coal mining and manufacturing industries throughout the period of record. Extensive urban development around Sheffield (with several large green field developments during the 1970s) and Chesterfield during period of record.
The station
A large masonry weir 61m wide calibrated at a velocity area station 360m d/s. The weir is at an angle to the upstream channel. Recorders u/s and d/s of the weir (the d/s gauge was removed in 1966). Chart records from u/s recorder since 1924. New recorder installed in 1958 and flow calculated from October 1960. Station closed in 1971. The station was reinstated in 2005 as a level only station when a level recorder and an H-ADVP in a 24m wide channel ~80m upstream of the weir were installed. The H-ADVP gauge has since been removed but a new rating was established and used to calculate flows again from November 2005.
How it measures flow
Good measuring reach enclosed by steep riverbanks and weir not thought to drown. One peak flow rating applied across original period of record (1960-1970). Rating derived from multipoint current meter gaugings from cableway. Flood Studies Report grade A2 at all flows. New rating developed following re-opening of gauge and applied to period from 11/2005 to date. Gauged up to bankfull stage and rating gives a good fit to gaugings.
Flow regime
Headwaters are heavily reservoired with around two thirds of the catchment draining through some 27 impoundments and valleys are highly developed. The Rother has significant washlands (although few were controlled by 1971). Traditional industries including steel and mining are now in decline. Sewage effluent augmentation with approximately 2/3 of abstraction to public water supply returned to Rother above gauge. Import from Derwent Valley, but overall net loss of water from Don to Dearne. Abstraction into the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation canal just upstream of the gauge.
The flow record
Record thought to be of little use before 1961. Records pre-1947 now thought lost. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in October 2018 (WINFAP Files v7).
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Don at Rotherham Forge Island flooding today?
The current level is 0.19m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Rotherham Forge Island?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling. 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. 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 Don at Rotherham Forge Island?
The typical range at this station is 0.23m to 1.70m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.70m 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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26 Feb 2015 Looking upstream across weir from right bank.
16 Jan 2008 Looking upstream to weir from left bank.
16 Jan 2008 Looking downstream from left bank.
16 Jan 2008 View across to gauge from left bank.
16 Jan 2008 Looking upstream towards gauge from left bank.
16 Jan 2008 View downstream to weir from access bridge; boat catcher boom visible above weir.
16 Jan 2008 Looking downstream towards gauge from left bank.
16 Jan 2008 View upstream to canal offtake
