Rose 0.38 m since 15:30 — peaked 0.95 at 00:00, now 0.95 and holding
0.95
Armley
Aire
Aire and Calder catchment
• Leeds • West Yorkshire • ID: F1707 • Level
(39m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 228 views
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You'll be notified when this gauge is rising more than 0.10 m/hr — a sign of rapidly increasing water levels.
You'll be notified when a new storm-overflow (sewage) discharge starts within ~3 km of this gauge, based on the water companies' near-real-time feeds.
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EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms
Current Level
0.952 m
▲▼ Crested · peaked 0.95
24h Max
0.953 m
24h Min
0.449 m
Typical Range
0.29 - 2.70
m
Highest Recorded
5.21 m
EA official record
5.04 in our data (since Jan 1972)
Current level is 18% of this
🚽Sewage overflows nearby
Recent Water Levels
🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day
EA forecast (official)
Prediction V2
Prediction Eris
Nimbus beta
Experimental model fusing soil moisture, river flow, groundwater and catchment
character. The shaded band is its 10–90% range, widened so that about 80% of recent outcomes fall inside it.
Under evaluation — not yet promoted, so treat as a second opinion.
River Flow
90 days
Daily mean discharge (m³/s) with the daily min–max band, from the EA Hydrology API. Flow is the volume of water passing the gauge — often a more direct flood signal than level.
Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 8 Oct (2 days behind — the EA publishes each day's mean a day or two after it ends; unchecked, provisional)via EA Hydrology
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.
175 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 200 m away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 169 report not discharging, and for 6 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
Yorkshire Water · into Stoney Rock Beck · 3.0 km away in a straight line · its recorded watercourse is not the one mapped beside it
39 spills · 76 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
31 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.
52 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 →
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 Leeds flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 29 areas linked to this gauge, nearest first.
🌊 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
0.41
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,098 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +6% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
11%
partly urbanised
Median Annual Flood
141 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
303 m³/s
26 Dec 2015 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
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. Lower catchment is heavily urbanised. The headwaters are rural and influenced by numerous reservoirs.
More detail
The catchment
Catchment draining the east side of the Pennines above Leeds. Geology comprises predominantly Carboniferous Limestone in the headwaters down to Skipton, and Millstone Grit and Lower Coal Measures. Extensive superficial deposits. Rural headwaters, with considerable urban and industrial development in the lower catchment. Influenced by reservoirs. Estimated 12.7% of catchment drains through 18 impoundments. Large reservoirs include Winterburn, Ponden, the Denholme Group.
The station
Velocity area station on a straight, industrial reach. Station is located 100m downstream of twin arch viaduct, and confined by canal embankment (right bank, 11.19m) and a high wall (left bank, 5.96m). Channel control provided by two broad-crested weirs set in arches (20m wide) 1.8km d/s under Leeds train station. Station prone to heavy weedgrowth in summer. Changes in weir condition, 1971 and crest deterioration, 1975 not thought important for high flows. Weir crest reconstructed 1978. Instrument building destroyed by fire in 2008, station rebuilt at same section but on opposite (left) bank in 2010.
How it measures flow
Rated for all flows by cableway at the section. No bypassing is known but wall was close to overtopping in 2000. Weir crest reconstructed and re-rated in April 1978, but flood calibration was unaltered. Two peak flow ratings applied across period of record. Upper limb of all ratings since April 1978. Low flow weed correction not shown.
Flow regime
Reservoir groups include Skipton, controlling 4.1% of total area, Keighley 4.7%, Denholme 1.8% and Bingley 1.8%. Zero flow when river level drawn down below weir crest by Kirkstall Power Station (license revoked 1978), now closed. Abstractions returned to river on site. Discharge received from sewage treatment at Bradford (Esholt) and some industrial abstractions. Washlands created at Skipton and Silsden to manage flooding at Keighley and Leeds.
The flow record
Pre-1971 data are less reliable. Data 19/05/2008 to 08/09/2010 estimated using correlation with Leeds City Station gauge a short distance downstream due to temporary station closure. Estimates are within +/-15% of expected Armley flows. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in October 2018 (WINFAP Files v7).
How this gauging station is built and how long it has measured (NRFA / UKCEH).
Gauge type
Gauging structure
Operating since
1961
Station datum
26.1 mAOD
Flow record
1961–2024 · 63 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1961
Hydrometric area
27
Measured by
Environment Agency
Nearby Groundwater
Soil Moisture
Possible storm-overflow correlation
Rain upstream
This gauge has no rain model of its own, but it usually follows Keighley: when about 6mm of rain falls near Keighley in 6h, this gauge usually starts rising about 53 minutes later.
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Aire at Armley flooding today?
The current level is 0.95m, which is within the typical range of 0.29 to 2.70m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Armley?
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 Aire at Armley?
The typical range at this station is 0.29m to 2.70m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 2.70m 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:
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15 Sep 2010 View of channel looking downstream.
Steps and ladder for access to gaugeboards, left bank looking upstream
Looking across cableway to far (right) bank stanchion. Old gauge was in the fenced area where the stanchion remains now.
Cableway shutter doors
Internal cableway stanchion within instrument building on left bank.
View down ladder to lower gaugeboard and channel access platform.
Access steps and cableway.
Instruments and stilling well
Cableway stanchion and winch