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Rocester

Dove
Dove catchment • Rocester • Staffordshire • ID: 4008 • Level
(32m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 191 views

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Get notified about Rocester — tick as many as you like, they all share the notify settings below.

⤴ Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
Drag the line on the chart, or type a value: mASD
Quick pick:

Residents reported flooding nearby when this gauge read ≥ 0.74 mASD (8 reports, nearest 10.8 km) — reported by FloodRadar users, not surveyed by the Environment Agency; a report is not proof any one property flooded.

Each one is saved as its own alert — pause or remove them individually any time.

Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
0.117 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.146 mASD
24h Min
0.114 mASD
Typical Range
0.17 - 0.67
mASD
Highest Recorded
2.09 mASD
EA official record
2.09 in our data (since Apr 1953)
Current level is 6% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 5h
08 Oct 05:15 ▬ steady 0.117 mASD
08 Oct 05:00 ▬ steady 0.117 mASD
08 Oct 04:45 ▬ steady 0.117 mASD
08 Oct 04:30 ▬ steady 0.117 mASD
08 Oct 04:00 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 03:45 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 03:30 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 03:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 03:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.119 mASD
08 Oct 02:45 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 02:30 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 02:15 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 02:00 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 01:45 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 01:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 01:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.119 mASD
08 Oct 01:00 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 00:45 ▬ steady 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 00:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.118 mASD
08 Oct 00:15 0.119 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Rocester
  • Watercourse: River Dove
  • Nearest Town: Rocester
  • County: Staffordshire
  • Nearest reservoir: Blithfield (16.9 km) · 100.0% full (as of 3 Oct 2026)
  • Coordinates: 52°57'16"N 1°50'2"W (52.954550, -1.833986)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 15 Apr 1953
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 4008
  • RLOI id: 2101 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 4008-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • 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: Dove
  • Typical Range: 0.167 – 0.671 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 399 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: 0.12 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 05:15)
  • 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

Same river system, separate branch

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.

15 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 9.1 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 15 report not discharging.

💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Dove · 9.1 km upstream along the river
56 spills · 379 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Dove · 9.1 km upstream along the river
6 spills · 5 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Bentley Brook · 12.5 km upstream along the river
44 spills · 639 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Henmore Brook · 13.2 km upstream along the river
21 spills · 65 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Henmore Brook · 13.2 km upstream along the river
16 spills · 35 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Henmore Brook · 13.2 km upstream along the river
13 spills · 40 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Dove · 13.9 km upstream along the river
6 spills · 72 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Bentley Brook · 17.9 km upstream along the river
10 spills · 70 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

7 more further upstream, up to 40.8 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.

💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Stour · 690 m away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
4 spills · 4 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Trib Of River Churnet · 4.1 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
13 spills · 4 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Tributary Of River Tean · 4.9 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
16 spills · 9 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Uttoxeter Brook · 6.0 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
6 spills · 2 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

10 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 0.67 m on about 34 days. This year so far: 20 days.

2026 20 days, 1 of them high · 1 high so far
2025 26 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
2024 37 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2023 49 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2022 23 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2021 42 days, 9 of them high · 9 high
2020 40 days, 8 of them high · 8 high
2019 40 days, 6 of them high · 6 high
2018 29 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
2017 21 days, 2 of them high · 2 high

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 1.23 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2007 for the 16 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.5 km away).

127flood warnings 134flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 27 Aug 2026 — Henmore Brook at Ashbourne

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 7 8
2025 5 10
2024 19 18
2023 18 15
2022 1 7
2021 14 15
2020 12 11
2019 11 17
2018 2 3
2017 0 1
2016 4 6
2014 1 3
2013 6 4
2012 14 8
2010 4 1
2008 8 3
2007 1 4

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 Rocester flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 16 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 8 more

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
0.56
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,081 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +6% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.7%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
86.87 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
101 m³/s
21 Dec 1991 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 7.6221.105.351.805% (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 4%Grassland 89%Arable 2%Heath/scrub 2%Urban 2%Other 2%
Grassland 92% → 89% since 1990

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

Velocity area station with old mill weir acting as a rather insensitive control.

More detail

The catchment

A predominantly upland catchment in which the headwaters drain Millstone Grit and Carboniferous Limestone. Lower reaches are Permain and Triassic Sandstones and Triassic Mudstone. Some superficial deposits within river valleys. Land use is predominantly moorland and pasture.

The station

Velocity area station approximately 19.8m wide. Hydro-electric power scheme and larinier fish pass added to control structure in 2011.

How it measures flow

Station bypassed when out of bank (3-4 times per year). Weir crest prone to algal growth. Gauging from a footbridge and more recently by remote controlled ADCP adjacent to gauge board, downstream of bridge. No gaugings above bankfull hence little confidence in rating above this point. Two ratings cover period or record, revised in 2016.

Flow regime

Flows natural to within 10% at the 95 percentile flow.

The flow record

Early flow data of lower quality than later records, due to readings taken from gauge boards. Period-of-record maximum flow is listed as 132.3 cumecs in Dec 1991. The Dec 1960 peak had a higher stage but the derivation of the flow cannot be verified. The two events were of a broadly similar magnitude. Rating from 25/11/2011 accounts for fish pass and hydroelectric power scheme. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in August 2021 (WINFAP Files v10).

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
Velocity–area
Operating since
1953
Station datum
86.3 mAOD
Flow record
1953–2024 · 71 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1954
Hydrometric area
28
Measured by
Environment Agency

Rain upstream

This gauge has no rain model of its own, but it usually follows Ilam: when about 6mm of rain falls near Ilam in 12h, this gauge usually starts rising about 3 hours later.

Recent rain upstream: 0mm/12h — below Ilam's usual trigger.

Record: this held 11 of 15 times (past storms) · rain gauge: Rainfall station

Experimental, from historical rain and river data. Not an official flood warning.

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Dove at Rocester flooding today?

The current level is 0.12m, which is below the typical range. Flooding is very unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Rocester?

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 Dove at Rocester?

The typical range at this station is 0.17m to 0.67m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.67m 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.

Embed this gauge on your website

Free live river-level widget — ideal for parish councils, angling clubs and local sites. Updates automatically.

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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 →