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0.08

Ardingly

Ouse
Ouse catchment • Ardingly • West Sussex • ID: E8266 • Level
(1h ago) • 3 readings/hr • 266 views

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Current Level
0.077 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.080 mASD
24h Min
0.064 mASD
Typical Range
0.06 - 1.05
mASD
Highest Recorded
1.89 mASD
EA official record
1.89 in our data (since May 1981)
Current level is 4% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +0.2 cm over 7h
08 Oct 01:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.077 mASD
08 Oct 01:15 ▬ steady 0.078 mASD
08 Oct 01:00 ▬ steady 0.078 mASD
08 Oct 00:30 ▬ steady 0.078 mASD
08 Oct 00:15 ▬ steady 0.078 mASD
08 Oct 00:00 ▬ steady 0.078 mASD
07 Oct 23:45 ▬ steady 0.078 mASD
07 Oct 23:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.078 mASD
07 Oct 22:30 ▬ steady 0.079 mASD
07 Oct 22:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.079 mASD
07 Oct 21:45 ▬ steady 0.080 mASD
07 Oct 21:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.080 mASD
07 Oct 21:00 ▬ steady 0.079 mASD
07 Oct 20:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.079 mASD
07 Oct 20:15 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.078 mASD
07 Oct 19:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.077 mASD
07 Oct 19:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.076 mASD
07 Oct 19:00 ▬ steady 0.075 mASD
07 Oct 18:45 ▬ steady 0.075 mASD
07 Oct 18:30 0.075 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Ardingly
  • Watercourse: River Ouse
  • Nearest Town: Ardingly
  • County: West Sussex
  • Nearest reservoir: Ardingly (1.3 km) · 22.8% full (as of 27 Sep 2026)
  • Coordinates: 51°2'18"N 0°6'1"W (51.038451, -0.100268)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 May 1981
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: E8266
  • RLOI id: 1152 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: E8266-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: Ouse
  • Typical Range: 0.061 – 1.053 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 37 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: 0.08 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 01:30)
  • 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

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.

3 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 2.8 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 3 report not discharging.

💧
Southern Water · into Unnamed Trib Of River Ouse · 2.8 km upstream along the river
7 spills · 55 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Unnamed Trib Of River Ouse · 2.8 km upstream along the river
33 spills · 416 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into The River Ouse · 6.7 km upstream along the river
19 spills · 125 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

Nearby, connection not known

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

💧
Southern Water · into Lywood Stream · 1.8 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
17 spills · 122 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Lywood Stream Trib. River Ouse · 1.8 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
3 spills · 6 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Unnamed Trib Of Balcombe Lake · 3.1 km away in a straight line · discharges to a loch, lake or reservoir
10 spills · 26 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Tributary Of Scrase Stream · 3.7 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
10 spills · 51 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Trib. Of Scrase Bridge Stream · 4.4 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
7 spills · 6 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Cockhaise Brook · 5.2 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
10 spills · 28 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into Trib Of River Adur · 5.4 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
47 spills · 484 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Southern Water · into River Adur Via Sws · 5.7 km away in a straight line · reaches the river through a sewer or culvert
13 spills · 42 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

1 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.

11 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 1.05 m on about 2 days. This year so far: 1 day.

2026 1 day so far
2025 2 days
2024 5 days
2023 1 day
2022 2 days
2021 0 days
2020 2 days
2019 2 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 2012 for the 6 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.4 km away).

36flood warnings 143flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 27 Jan 2026 — Lindfield Bridge on the River Ouse

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 2 8
2025 1 10
2024 5 20
2023 1 15
2022 3 13
2021 1 6
2020 3 15
2019 7 11
2018 0 2
2017 0 2
2016 2 11
2015 2 4
2014 5 13
2013 3 6
2012 1 7

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 Ardingly flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 6 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
0.48
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
886 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +4% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.3%
largely rural
Highest Daily Mean Flow
20.90 m³/s
15 Jan 2008 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.4221.720.1340.0165% (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 23%Grassland 53%Arable 20%Urban 3%Other 1%
Grassland 64% → 53% since 1990

Flow affected by: public water supply.

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

Flat-V weir replaced (in 1993) a compound broad-crested weir. Downstream of rarely used abstraction which feeds directly to Ardingly Reservoir.

More detail

The station

Flat-V weir fitted with ultrasonics for high flow measurement in 2010.

How it measures flow

Weir thought to drown at high flows. Difficult to reach gauging station at high flows.

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
1979
Station datum
35.2 mAOD
Flow record
1979–2024 · 45 yrs · 99% complete
Hydrometric area
41
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Ouse at Ardingly flooding today?

The current level is 0.08m, which is within the typical range of 0.06 to 1.05m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Ardingly?

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 Ouse at Ardingly?

The typical range at this station is 0.06m to 1.05m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.05m 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 →