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0.20

Long Melford

Chad Brook
Essex catchment • Long Melford • Suffolk • ID: E22563 • Level
(36m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 149 views

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⤴ Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
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Current Level
0.195 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.202 mASD
24h Min
0.195 mASD
Typical Range
0.05 - 0.72
mASD
Highest Recorded
0.95 mASD
EA official record
A 1.40 reading (21 Apr 2022) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 21% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.2 cm over 5h
08 Oct 16:30 ▬ steady 0.195 mASD
08 Oct 16:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.195 mASD
08 Oct 16:00 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 15:45 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 15:30 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 15:15 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 15:00 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 14:45 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 14:30 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 14:15 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 14:00 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 13:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 13:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.197 mASD
08 Oct 13:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 13:00 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.197 mASD
08 Oct 12:45 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 12:30 ▬ steady 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 12:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.196 mASD
08 Oct 12:00 ▬ steady 0.197 mASD
08 Oct 11:45 0.197 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Long Melford
  • Watercourse: Chad Brook
  • Nearest Town: Long Melford
  • County: Suffolk
  • Nearest reservoir: Ardleigh (24.0 km) · 58.8% full (as of 5 Oct 2026)
  • Coordinates: 52°4'49"N 0°43'28"E (52.080294, 0.724408)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 2 Oct 1979
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E22563
  • RLOI id: 6136 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E22563-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 0 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Essex
  • Typical Range: 0.047 – 0.720 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 47 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 23 Sep (15 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.20 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 16:15)
  • 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 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

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. Those nearby are listed below.

Nearby, connection not known

Within 6 km in a straight line, but the river map cannot say whether their water passes this gauge.

💧
Anglian Water · into Unnamed Trib River Stour · 4.0 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
4 spills · 8 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Anglian Water · into Ditch Tributary Of River Box · 4.5 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Anglian Water · into Tributary River Stour Nt · 4.8 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
2 spills · 2 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

5 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

This gauge rarely reaches its typical high of 0.72 m: 1 day since 2017. This year so far: 0 days.

2026 0 days so far
2025 0 days
2024 1 day
2023 0 days
2022 0 days
2021 0 days
2020 0 days
2019 0 days
2018 0 days
2017 0 days

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2007 for the 2 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 7.2 km away).

2flood warnings 59flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 20 Oct 2023 — The River Stour from downstream of Kedington to Sudbury

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 2
2025 0 2
2024 0 7
2023 2 6
2022 0 7
2021 0 7
2020 0 6
2019 0 2
2018 0 1
2016 0 2
2015 0 1
2014 0 4
2013 0 1
2012 0 5
2010 0 1
2009 0 1
2008 0 2
2007 0 2

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 Long Melford 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.

Catchment Character

🌊 Fairly flashy Responds 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
0.44
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
625 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.6%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
4.81 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
10.00 m³/s
16 Sep 1968 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.2601.020.1160.0285% (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 6%Grassland 25%Arable 66%Urban 3%
Arable 85% → 66% since 1990

Flow affected by: groundwater abstraction, 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

An 'Essex' profile with side weir which can be affected by drowning in summer, gauging a rural, Chalk catchment completely covered with Boulder Clay.

More detail

The catchment

Chalk with complete cover of Boulder Clay. Rural catchment, predominantly arable farming.

The station

'Essex' profile (modified Flat V Crump) weir with low flow side weir.

How it measures flow

Low flow side weir drowns in summer due to weed growth. Poorly maintained channel also influences modular limit. High flow spillway accurate to 1.1m. Theoretically rated. Full range with convincing water-balance but low flow data should be treated as indicative only. One rating applied across period of record.

Flow regime

Gw-influenced regime. Runoff reduced by industrial/agricultural abstraction.

The flow record

Naturalised flows from 1965 to 1976. Missing data in 2010 and 2011 is as a result of water level management practices which caused the structure to become non-modular. Magnitude of POR maximum flow in Sept 1968 is supported by EA, but may be an underestimate as flow known to have been extrapolated. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8).

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
Gauging structure
Operating since
1965
Station datum
34.8 mAOD
Flow record
1965–2024 · 59 yrs · 98% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1965
Hydrometric area
36
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the Chad Brook at Long Melford flooding today?

The current level is 0.20m, which is within the typical range of 0.05 to 0.72m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Long Melford?

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 Chad Brook at Long Melford?

The typical range at this station is 0.05m to 0.72m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.72m 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:

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 →