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Drag the line on the chart, or type a value:mASD
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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
0.121 mASD
▲ Rising slightly
24h Max
0.125 mASD
24h Min
0.092 mASD
Typical Range
0.01 - 1.14
mASD
Highest Recorded
2.51 mASD
EA official record
2.50 in our data (since Jan 2000)
Current level is 5% of this
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
EA forecast (official)
Flood predictions aren't generated for
lock / structure gauges —
their levels are driven by gate operation,
not by catchment rainfall, so the forecast models would have no skill here.
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.
Downstream level
7 days
The level on the DOWNSTREAM side of this lock/weir structure — a separate EA
measure from the main (upstream) reading shown on the Current tab. Threshold bands
are computed from this gauge's own downstream history.
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
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.
2 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 10.7 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 2 report not discharging.
Severn Trent Water · into River Stowe · 6.0 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
31 spills · 206 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
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 →
In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 1.14 m
on about 33 days.
This year so far: 26 days.
202626 days, 4 of them high · 4 highso far
202525 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
202461 days, 14 of them high · 14 high
202341 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
202223 days
202129 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
202046 days, 8 of them high · 8 high
201940 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
201821 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
201714 days
Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out.
The darker part is days above 2.04 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2008 for the 9 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.3 km away).
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 Kites Hardwick flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 9 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 FlashyRain runs off fast — levels rise and fall sharply, often within hours of heavy rain.
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
0.28
flashy — rain runs off fast
Avg Annual Rainfall
658 mm/yr
1991–2020 · -5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.4%
largely rural
Highest Daily Mean Flow
10.10 m³/s
21 Jul 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.
Flat Vee weir with brick gauge house and cableway opened in January 2000.
More detail
The catchment
The River Leam heads North, passing the outskirts of Braunston before turning northwest towards Grandborough. It then heads west passing through Kites Hardwick gauging station, just south of Draycote Water. It then continues heading west towards Eathorpe gauging station. Catchment generally comprised of low lying agricultural land.
The station
Originally an open channel site opened 25/01/2000. It was opened for low flow measurement but primarily for high flows, following the Bye Report. Prior to its installation, flows and flood warnings on the River Leam were based on levels at Eathorpe, which was downstream of the confluence with the River Itchen. The 1998 floods proved that this was insufficient for accurate flood warning. In June 2000, a project was set up to install a flat vee weir and gauge house located downstream of Thurlaston Bridge. The weir was designed as low and shallow as it could be, to provide useful flow information at low levels but would drown out at high levels and not cause any backing up.
How it measures flow
Flat Vee weir has a low modular limit and starts to drown above 0.2m. A downstream tail recorder was added on 27/01/2003 and is currently used with the theoretical rating to calculate flows. Gaugings carried out across flow range, using remote controlled ADCP. In-channel weed growth can affect low flow gaugings, however weed is managed during the summer months. Out of bank flow can be measured by wade gauging, using a current meter or Flowtracker. A topographic survey was commissioned by an external contractor in 2018/19 due to potential gauge board relocation and levelling issues in general. It was carried out on 08/02/2019 and are awaiting results.
Flow regime
Flow generally baseflow dominated. Artificial influences include Thurlaston road bridge, approximately 30m upstream. At higher levels, flows bypass the channel on the left bank side, at about 1.8m. There is a large bend in the river approximately 12m downstream.
The flow record
Missing mean flow data in recent years due to issue with flow calculation during non-modular conditions.
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Flat-V weir
Operating since
1990
Station datum
69.5 mAOD
Flow record
2005–2024 · 19 yrs · 95% complete
Hydrometric area
54
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Leam at Kites Hardwick flooding today?
The current level is 0.12m, which is within the typical range of 0.01 to 1.14m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Kites Hardwick?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently rising slightly. 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 Leam at Kites Hardwick?
The typical range at this station is 0.01m to 1.14m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.14m 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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