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0.08

Kirkby Stephen

Eden
Eden and Esk catchment • Kirkby Stephen • Westmorland and Furness • ID: 760101 • Level
(32m ago) • 2 readings/hr • 178 views

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Current Level
0.080 m
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.100 m
24h Min
0.080 m
Typical Range
0.07 - 1.40
m
Highest Recorded
2.73 m
22 Dec 2015
Since Feb 1976
Current level is 3% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.3 cm over 6h
23 Aug 23:00 ▬ steady 0.080 m
23 Aug 22:45 ▬ steady 0.080 m
23 Aug 21:30 ▬ steady 0.080 m
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.080 m
23 Aug 21:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.080 m
23 Aug 20:45 ▬ steady 0.081 m
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.081 m
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.081 m
23 Aug 20:00 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.081 m
23 Aug 19:45 ▬ steady 0.082 m
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.082 m
23 Aug 19:15 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.082 m
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.083 m
23 Aug 18:45 ▬ steady 0.083 m
23 Aug 18:30 ▬ steady 0.083 m
23 Aug 18:15 ▬ steady 0.083 m
23 Aug 18:00 ▬ steady 0.083 m
23 Aug 17:45 ▬ steady 0.083 m
23 Aug 17:30 ▬ steady 0.083 m
23 Aug 17:15 0.083 m

Rainfall & Weather

Loading rainfall and weather data...

Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 1 flood area linked to this gauge (nearest 9.8 km away).

0flood warnings 223flood alerts

Most recent flood alert: 24 Mar 2026Upper River Eden

Year by year
YearWarningsAlerts
2026 0 2
2025 0 11
2024 0 10
2023 0 8
2022 0 2
2021 0 11
2020 0 10
2019 0 10
2018 0 3
2017 0 4
2016 0 8
2015 0 18
2014 0 9
2013 0 11
2012 0 11
2011 0 9
2010 0 9
2009 0 15
2008 0 17
2007 0 22
2006 0 23

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 Kirkby Stephen flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Station Reference: 760101
  • EA Gauge ID: 760101-level-stage-i-15_min-m
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: m
  • Typical rise rate: 8 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Eden and Esk
  • Typical Range: 0.072 – 1.400 m
  • Drainage Area: 69 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.08 m (EA at 23 Aug 22:45)
  • 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.

Catchment Character

🌊 Steep & flashy Steep catchment sheds rain quickly — expect fast, sharp rises after 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
0.41
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
1,612 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +16% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
0.5%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
89.15 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
122 m³/s
5 Dec 2015
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 2.7210.901.070.1735% (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 1%Grassland 72%Heath/scrub 25%Urban 1%
Grassland 77% → 72% since 1990

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

Compound broad-crested weir, the highest gauging station on the River Eden. Gauges a high relief, natural catchment.

More detail

The catchment

High relief catchment draining Carboniferous Limestone which forms most of the watershed. Middle reaches floored by Permian Sandstone. Hill peat and moorland, variable Boulder Clay cover. No catchment changes known.

The station

Non-standard compound broad-crested weir, built in 1971 to stabilise the bed and act as a low flow control. In 2007 extensive revetment works on left bank were carried out to prevent bank slippage into channel; weir repaired in 2008.

How it measures flow

Gravel bed, good parallel approach. Crest corrosion a problem prior to addition of iron crest. Insensitive at low flows. Structure drowns and modest bypassing occurs at highest flows (some gauged evidence of its magnitude). Low flows gauged by wading; cableway measures higher flows. One peak flow rating applied across period of record. Rated by gaugings to 2.5m. Slight alterations and repairs to weir between 2nd May and 19th June 1989, with no significant change to rating.

Flow regime

Natural catchment with no known abstractions or returns.

The flow record

Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2019 (WINFAP Files v8).

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
1971
Station datum
158.1 mAOD
Flow record
1971–2024 · 53 yrs · 95% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1971
Hydrometric area
76
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Eden at Kirkby Stephen flooding today?

The current level is 0.08m, which is within the typical range of 0.07 to 1.40m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Kirkby Stephen?

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.

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 Eden at Kirkby Stephen?

The typical range at this station is 0.07m to 1.40m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.40m 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:

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, floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →