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Water Level Easing
Easing — down from 0.33 at 16:00, now 0.32
0.32

Gatwick Airport

Mole
Mole catchment • Charlwood • West Sussex • ID: 3210TH • Level
(1h ago) • 4 readings/hr • 190 views

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⤴ Unusual rise — FloodRadar+Top 1% rise rate for this gauge.
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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
0.315 mASD
▼ Easing
24h Max
0.363 mASD
24h Min
0.149 mASD
Typical Range
0.18 - 2.10
mASD
Highest Recorded
2.54 mASD
EA official record
2.54 in our data (since Sep 2005)
Current level is 12% of this
Current Flow
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🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Rising · +0.5 cm over 6h
08 Oct 01:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.315 mASD
08 Oct 01:15 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.316 mASD
08 Oct 01:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.318 mASD
08 Oct 00:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.319 mASD
08 Oct 00:30 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.320 mASD
08 Oct 00:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.322 mASD
08 Oct 00:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.323 mASD
07 Oct 23:45 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.324 mASD
07 Oct 23:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.325 mASD
07 Oct 22:30 ▬ steady 0.326 mASD
07 Oct 22:15 ▬ steady 0.326 mASD
07 Oct 22:00 ▬ steady 0.326 mASD
07 Oct 21:45 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.326 mASD
07 Oct 21:30 ▲ +0.1 cm 0.325 mASD
07 Oct 21:15 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.324 mASD
07 Oct 21:00 ▲ +0.2 cm 0.322 mASD
07 Oct 20:45 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.320 mASD
07 Oct 20:30 ▲ +0.3 cm 0.317 mASD
07 Oct 20:15 ▲ +0.4 cm 0.314 mASD
07 Oct 20:00 0.310 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Gatwick Airport
  • Watercourse: River Mole
  • Nearest Town: Charlwood
  • County: West Sussex
  • Nearest reservoir: Ardingly (12.6 km) · 22.8% full (as of 27 Sep 2026)
  • Coordinates: 51°8'41"N 0°11'58"W (51.144764, -0.199530)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Jan 2005
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 3210TH
  • RLOI id: 7250 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 3210TH-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 6 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Mole
  • Typical Range: 0.179 – 2.100 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 32 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: 0.31 mASD (EA at 8 Oct 01:45)
  • 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

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.

💧
Thames Water · into Tributary Of Gatwick Stream · 3.0 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
33 spills · 363 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
💧
Thames Water · into Mill Stream · 3.8 km away in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure
5 spills · 23 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last

4 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 2.10 m: 3 days 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 1 day
2020 1 day
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 2012 for the 13 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.2 km away).

42flood warnings 140flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 24 Dec 2022 — Weatherhill Stream at Smallfield

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 7
2025 0 11
2024 0 22
2023 0 14
2022 4 8
2021 0 6
2020 3 8
2019 5 14
2018 0 2
2017 0 3
2016 0 13
2015 0 4
2014 18 9
2013 6 8
2012 6 11

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 Charlwood flood history.

Flood areas linked to this gauge

Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 13 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.

Show 5 more

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
851 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +3% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
14%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
10.38 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
17.40 m³/s
15 Sep 1968 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.3621.630.1010.0155% (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 18%Grassland 45%Arable 10%Urban 27%
Grassland 56% → 45% since 1990

Flow affected by: public water supply, effluent returns.

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

Ultrasonic station gauging an impervious catchment with some urban land use.

More detail

The catchment

Impervious (Weald Clay) catchment; mostly rural but heavy urban development in the eastern third.

The station

Since 2005, an ultrasonic station 200m downstream of original station - rectangular flume (2.74m broad) in culvert below airport runway plus Crump weir in overflow channel (built in 1984, and appears to influence the homogeneity of the flow record). Station added to peak flows dataset in September 2022 (WINFAP Files v11).

How it measures flow

Six-path ultrasonic gauge, replacing four-path gauge in September 2019.

Flow regime

Very limited disturbance to the responsive, natural flow regime (Gatwick Airport is not in the catchment); small net export of water.

The flow record

Ran dry for the first time in summer of 1995. Four-path gauge failed in 2016, no data available until re-opening in September 2019. Multiple years rejected in the Peak Flow Dataset due to missing data.

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
1961
Station datum
56.7 mAOD
Flow record
1961–2024 · 63 yrs · 89% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1986
Hydrometric area
39
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Mole at Gatwick Airport flooding today?

The current level is 0.32m, which is within the typical range of 0.18 to 2.10m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Gatwick Airport?

Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently falling slightly. 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 Mole at Gatwick Airport?

The typical range at this station is 0.18m to 2.10m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.10m 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.

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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 →