Wharfe and Lower Ouse catchment
• Ilkley • West Yorkshire • ID: F1902 • Level
(36m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 191 views
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Current Level
0.111 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.141 m
24h Min
0.111 m
Typical Range
0.09 - 1.80
m
Highest Recorded
3.91 m
16 Mar 2013
Since Jan 1982
Current level is 3% of this
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
Prediction V2
Prediction Eris
Nimbus beta
Experimental model fusing soil moisture, river flow, groundwater and catchment
character. Shown with its calibrated 10–90% confidence band. Under evaluation —
not yet promoted, so treat as a second opinion.
Long Term
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
—
Consecutive rainy days0 → 10+
Days Above Normal
This year vs 5-year monthly range
Recent Readings
Falling · -0.6 cm over 6h
23 Aug 23:15▬ steady0.111 m
23 Aug 23:00▼ -0.2 cm0.111 m
23 Aug 22:45▬ steady0.113 m
23 Aug 22:30▼ -0.2 cm0.113 m
23 Aug 21:15▬ steady0.115 m
23 Aug 21:00▼ -0.1 cm0.115 m
23 Aug 20:45▬ steady0.116 m
23 Aug 20:30▬ steady0.116 m
23 Aug 20:15▬ steady0.116 m
23 Aug 20:00▬ steady0.116 m
23 Aug 19:45▬ steady0.116 m
23 Aug 19:30▬ steady0.116 m
23 Aug 19:15▼ -0.1 cm0.116 m
23 Aug 19:00▲ +0.1 cm0.117 m
23 Aug 18:45▼ -0.1 cm0.116 m
23 Aug 18:30▲ +0.1 cm0.117 m
23 Aug 18:15▼ -0.1 cm0.116 m
23 Aug 18:00▬ steady0.117 m
23 Aug 17:45▬ steady0.118 m
23 Aug 17:300.117 m
Rainfall & Weather
Loading rainfall and weather data...
Flood history near this gauge
Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2011 for the 7 flood
areas linked to this gauge (nearest 0.5 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 Ilkley flood history.
Geographic coordinates may reflect the access point for the gauge, and not the precise location in the watercourse that it is taking readings from.
Catchment Character
🌊 Fairly flashyResponds 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
0.37
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,511 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +9% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.4%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
267 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
247 m³/s
9 Dec 1965
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.
Velocity area station. Net inflow to the catchment from springs and sink holes. Station closed December 1975.
More detail
The catchment
Predominantly Lower Carboniferous Limestone and shales in the upper two-thirds of the catchment, and Upper Carboniferous grits and sandstones in the lower parts near Addingham. Extensive Boulder Clay and alluvium. No known catchment changes.
The station
Velocity area station 20m u/s of Ilkley Old Bridge, the paved invert of which is low flow control for station. Open channel 37m wide. Replaced by Addingham (27043) 3.3km upstream in 1973. Discontinued as flow station in 1975 but level record continues. Cableway still used for calibration of Addingham.
How it measures flow
Bypassing begins at 3.6m over the left flood bank and flows on the flood plain. Minor draw-down problem in float well. Multiple peak flow ratings applied across period of record, the most recent is valid from January 1970. Rated by current meter gauging from bridge and correlation with Addingham record, adjusted for abstractions and greater catchment area. Flood Studies Report grade A1.
Flow regime
There are many springs and sink holes, and an examination of the catchment losses suggests there may be net inflow to the catchment. Water supply reservoirs at Barden and Chelker result in net export of water from the catchment, returns are through the Aire and Calder system. Grimwith reservoir upstream (catchment area about 25 sq.km) provided compensation releases to augment low flows.
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Velocity–area
Operating since
1961–1975
Station datum
71.3 mAOD
Flow record
1961–1975 · 14 yrs · 99% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1960
Hydrometric area
27
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Possible storm-overflow correlation
🚽 Storm overflows on this river
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Wharfe at Ilkley flooding today?
The current level is 0.11m, which is within the typical range of 0.09 to 1.80m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Ilkley?
Based on the most recent readings, the level is currently steady. The chart above shows the last 7 days of measurements, updated roughly every 15 minutes.
What is a normal level for the River Wharfe at Ilkley?
The typical range at this station is 0.09m to 1.80m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.80m are higher than usually seen and may indicate a flood risk.
How often is this river level data updated?
Readings are taken by the Environment Agency gauge roughly every 15 minutes and FloodRadar refreshes its data continuously, so the level shown is normally less than an hour old.
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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:
8 Nov 2019 View of instrument hut and cableway
1 Jun 2007 View downstream towards control under bridge arch
View downstream towards cableway
View upstream towards cableway
