← Back
0.13

Bacons End

Cole
Tame Anker and Mease catchment • Marston Green • West Midlands • ID: 4066 • Level
(39m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 221 views

Set water level alerts

Get notified about Bacons End — 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:

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
0.130 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.145 mASD
24h Min
0.129 mASD
Typical Range
0.13 - 0.39
mASD
Highest Recorded
1.96 mASD
EA official record
1.15 in our data (since Nov 1973)
Current level is 7% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 7h
10 Oct 01:15 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
10 Oct 01:00 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
10 Oct 00:45 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
10 Oct 00:30 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
10 Oct 00:15 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
10 Oct 00:00 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
09 Oct 23:30 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
09 Oct 22:15 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
09 Oct 22:00 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
09 Oct 21:30 ▬ steady 0.130 mASD
09 Oct 21:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.130 mASD
09 Oct 21:00 ▬ steady 0.129 mASD
09 Oct 20:30 ▬ steady 0.129 mASD
09 Oct 20:15 ▬ steady 0.129 mASD
09 Oct 20:00 ▬ steady 0.129 mASD
09 Oct 19:30 ▬ steady 0.129 mASD
09 Oct 19:15 ▬ steady 0.129 mASD
09 Oct 19:00 ▬ steady 0.129 mASD
09 Oct 18:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.129 mASD
09 Oct 18:15 0.130 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Bacons End
  • Watercourse: River Cole
  • Nearest Town: Marston Green
  • County: West Midlands
  • Coordinates: 52°29'3"N 1°43'55"W (52.484208, -1.731944)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Nov 1973
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 4066
  • RLOI id: 2129 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 4066-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 12 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Tame Anker and Mease
  • Typical Range: 0.129 – 0.385 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 130 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 6 Oct (4 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.13 mASD (EA at 10 Oct 01:00)
  • 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.

29 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 2.5 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 26 report not discharging, and for 3 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.

💧
Severn Trent Water · into Hatchford Brook · 2.5 km upstream along the river
1 spill · 1 hours in 2024
No live feed for this overflow
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Cole · 2.6 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Cole · 2.6 km upstream along the river
6 spills · 6 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Hatchford Brook · 2.8 km upstream along the river
4 spills · 22 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Low Brook · 2.9 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Low Brook · 2.9 km upstream along the river
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Cole · 3.5 km upstream along the river
22 spills · 9 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Hatchford Brook · 5.0 km upstream along the river
2 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

21 more further upstream, up to 17.8 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 Trib Of River Blythe · 2.3 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
3 spills · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Yardley Brook · 3.7 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
46 spills · 88 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Trib Of River Tame · 3.8 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Not Defined · 5.2 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
2 spills · 1 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Blythe (Trib) · 5.8 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
18 spills · 227 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

9 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 0.39 m on about 41 days. This year so far: 39 days.

2026 39 days, 8 of them high · 8 high so far
2025 32 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
2024 53 days, 9 of them high · 9 high
2023 54 days, 9 of them high · 9 high
2022 25 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
2021 41 days, 3 of them high · 3 high
2020 41 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2019 56 days, 11 of them high · 11 high
2018 37 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2017 28 days, 1 of them high · 1 high

Counted from each day's highest reading. Days with missing or implausible readings are left out. The darker part is days above 0.87 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 18 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.1 km away).

126flood warnings 382flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 1 Mar 2026 — River Blythe at Blyth End

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 6 40
2025 6 24
2024 9 48
2023 21 36
2022 0 22
2021 5 24
2020 8 29
2019 25 29
2018 17 17
2017 1 3
2016 4 18
2015 0 2
2014 0 15
2013 1 11
2012 16 18
2011 2 4
2010 1 6
2009 0 3
2008 4 13
2007 0 14
2006 0 6

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 Marston Green flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 18 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 10 more

Catchment Character

🌊 Urban & flashy Heavily built-up — rain runs off hard surfaces fast, so levels can spike 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
0.37
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
756 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
40%
heavily urbanised
Highest Daily Mean Flow
27.25 m³/s
20 Oct 2023 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.9763.170.5400.2025% (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 3%Grassland 28%Arable 4%Urban 65%

Flow affected by: effluent returns, 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

Crump profile Flat V weir in trapezoidal channel draining a highly urbanised catchment.

More detail

The catchment

Substantially urbanised catchment (S Birmingham suburbs). Underlying geology: Mercia Mudstone with extensive coverings of Boulder Clay and glacial sand and gravel.

The station

Crump profile Flat V weir in trapezoidal channel, 10.9m at V-full, with floodbanks to contain out-of-channel flow. Eel tiles were put on weir in 2016. Site also referred to as Bacons End. Removed from peak flows dataset in September 2023 (WINFAP Files v12).

How it measures flow

Gauged from bridge during high flows using a rope - formerly a cableway of span 48m, which extended across floodbanks. Highest flows inundate narrow floodplain. Low flow gaugings measured by waded ADCP or remote craft. There is wide scatter in gaugings below QMED that could lead to underestimation of QMED by up to 30%, although a single gauging above 1.5m which agrees well with the rating. Needs further high flow gaugings and a review of the rating above bankfull.

Flow regime

Responsive catchment. Moderate modification to flows from effluent returns.

The flow record

Blockage of stilling well during 2012 resulted in under-recording - with re-processed flows for 2012 based on downstream site at Swan's Barn used although these are marked as unreprentative in the Peak Flow Dataset. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2022 (WINFAP Files v11).

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
1973
Station datum
79.4 mAOD
Flow record
1973–2024 · 51 yrs · 100% complete
Hydrometric area
28
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Cole at Bacons End flooding today?

The current level is 0.13m, which is within the typical range of 0.13 to 0.39m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Bacons End?

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.

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 Cole at Bacons End?

The typical range at this station is 0.13m to 0.39m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 0.39m 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.

Preview

📮 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 →