← Back
Water Level Rising
0.87

Bescot

Tame
Tame Anker and Mease catchment • Walsall • West Midlands • ID: 4081 • Level
(46m ago) • 3 readings/hr • 163 views

Set water level alerts

Get notified about Bescot — 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
0.865 mASD
▲ Rising (+3cm/hr)
24h Max
0.921 mASD
24h Min
0.812 mASD
Typical Range
0.32 - 1.25
mASD
Highest Recorded
3.51 mASD
EA official record
A 4.02 reading (1 May 2025) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
Current level is 25% of this
Current Flow
Loading...
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.7 cm over 7h
09 Oct 13:15 ▲ +0.6 cm 0.865 mASD
09 Oct 13:00 ▲ +2 cm 0.859 mASD
09 Oct 12:30 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.844 mASD
09 Oct 12:15 ▬ steady 0.841 mASD
09 Oct 11:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.841 mASD
09 Oct 11:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.840 mASD
09 Oct 11:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.842 mASD
09 Oct 11:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.844 mASD
09 Oct 10:45 ▼ -0.8 cm 0.845 mASD
09 Oct 10:00 ▬ steady 0.853 mASD
09 Oct 09:45 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.853 mASD
09 Oct 09:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.856 mASD
09 Oct 09:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.858 mASD
09 Oct 08:45 ▬ steady 0.859 mASD
09 Oct 08:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.859 mASD
09 Oct 07:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.861 mASD
09 Oct 07:15 ▼ -0.3 cm 0.863 mASD
09 Oct 07:00 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.866 mASD
09 Oct 06:45 ▼ -0.4 cm 0.868 mASD
09 Oct 06:30 0.872 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Bescot
  • Watercourse: River Tame
  • Nearest Town: Walsall
  • County: West Midlands
  • Coordinates: 52°33'37"N 1°59'0"W (52.560205, -1.983428)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 28 Nov 1978
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 4081
  • RLOI id: 2135 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 4081-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 11 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: 0.318 – 1.247 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 169 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 7 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: 0.86 mASD (EA at 9 Oct 13:00)
  • 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.

53 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 590 m away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 53 report not discharging.

💧
Severn Trent Water · into Full Brook · 590 m upstream along the river
7 spills · 8 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Full Brook · 620 m upstream along the river
11 spills · 25 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Full Brook · 790 m upstream along the river
4 spills · 2 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Ford Brook · 1.1 km upstream along the river
11 spills · 24 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Tame (Olbury Arm) · 1.4 km upstream along the river
10 spills · 28 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Full Brook · 1.5 km upstream along the river
3 spills · 6 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Tame · 1.6 km upstream along the river
3 spills · 23 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into River Tame · 1.7 km upstream along the river
10 spills · 4 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

45 more further upstream, up to 13.5 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 Yew Tree Brook · 1.9 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 Tributary Of River Trent · 1.9 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
5 spills · 3 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Not Defined · 2.3 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
6 spills · 18 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Tributary Of Full Brook · 2.3 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
21 spills · 9 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Tributary Of Full Brook · 2.4 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 Trib Of River Tame · 2.6 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
13 spills · 17 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Hobnail Brook · 3.1 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now
💧
Severn Trent Water · into Soak Mere Drain · 3.2 km away in a straight line · discharges to a loch, lake or reservoir
0 spills · 0 hours in 2025
Not discharging now

11 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.

6 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 1.25 m on about 66 days. This year so far: 44 days.

2026 44 days, 3 of them high · 3 high so far
2025 61 days, 4 of them high · 4 high
2024 81 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
2023 86 days, 7 of them high · 7 high
2022 54 days, 5 of them high · 5 high
2021 71 days, 8 of them high · 8 high
2020 68 days, 6 of them high · 6 high
2019 67 days, 8 of them high · 8 high
2018 55 days, 2 of them high · 2 high
2017 53 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 2.37 m, the level this gauge tops only a few days a year.

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2012 for the 15 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.4 km away).

24flood warnings 40flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 27 Aug 2026 — Perry Brook at Perry Barr

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 2 11
2025 2 9
2024 6 13
2023 3 7
2022 3 0
2020 3 0
2019 1 0
2018 3 0
2012 1 0

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 Walsall flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 15 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 7 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
0.40
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
764 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +7% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
67%
heavily urbanised
Median Annual Flood
40.11 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
39.50 m³/s
15 Jun 2007 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 2.165.221.650.7715% (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 17%Arable 4%Urban 75%Other 1%
Arable 8% → 4% since 1990

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

An ultrasonic gauging station with trapezoidal flume.

More detail

The catchment

Almost entirely urbanised catchment just below confluence of upper Tame branches. Solid geology predominantly Coal Measures overlain by extensive Boulder Clay and sand and gravel.

The station

Station opened 1989 to provide flow data for water resources, water quality monitoring and flood forecasting. Original flume never reached critical velocity since Tame dredging not carried out to anticipated depth. Ultrasonic installed in 2003 but appeared to be underestimating flows. Replaced with NivuFlow gauge in June 2020. Sensor racks located in same position as previous install, though with a slightly reduced transducer depth so as to minimise impacts of weed and debris accumulation.

How it measures flow

Fully modular, has never been overtopped. Some trouble with left bank accretion, incised gauging section, and heavy undergrowth. Difficult to gauge higher flows the largest of which suggests rating underestimates flow. ADCP gaugings performed within ultrasonic section. In-channel weed growth immediately upstream of measurement section can cause the ultrasoinc to over-record.

Flow regime

Very responsive. Substantial imports from water reclamation work. Above 70 cumecs washland overspill upstream operates.

The flow record

Low flow data possibly inaccurate, as at best only two paths are in the river. Routine maintenance helps combat silt and weed accumulation within the measurement section. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2023 (WINFAP Files v12).

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
Ultrasonic
Operating since
1982
Station datum
107.3 mAOD
Flow record
1991–2024 · 33 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1978
Hydrometric area
28
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Tame at Bescot flooding today?

The current level is 0.87m, which is within the typical range of 0.32 to 1.25m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Bescot?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently rising. 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. Only about 6.2mm of rain has fallen nearby in the last 7 days, so the flow is being sustained mainly by groundwater. 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 Tame at Bescot?

The typical range at this station is 0.32m to 1.25m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.25m 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 →