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0.22

Bewdley

Severn
Worcestershire Middle Severn catchment • Bewdley • Worcestershire • ID: 2001 • Level
(21m ago) • 1 reading/hr • 519 views

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Current Level
0.219 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.225 mASD
24h Min
0.208 mASD
Typical Range
0.21 - 3.30
mASD
Highest Recorded
12.57 mASD
4 May 2025
Since Jan 1970
Current level is 2% of this
Current Flow
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🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Falling · -0.3 cm over 6h
23 Aug 22:45 ▼ -0.2 cm 0.219 mASD
23 Aug 21:30 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 21:15 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 21:00 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 20:45 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 20:30 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 20:15 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 20:00 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 19:45 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 19:30 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 19:15 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 19:00 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 18:45 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 18:30 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 18:15 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 18:00 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 17:45 ▬ steady 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 17:30 ▼ -0.1 cm 0.221 mASD
23 Aug 17:15 ▬ steady 0.222 mASD
23 Aug 17:00 0.222 mASD

Rainfall & Weather

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Flood history near this gauge

Official Environment Agency warnings issued since 2006 for the 13 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.1 km away).

1severe warning 131flood warnings 137flood alerts

Most recent flood warning: 17 Nov 2025River Severn Sandy Lane and Severnside, Stourport

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 0 4
2025 0 5 5
2024 0 19 7
2023 0 25 2
2022 1 9 3
2021 0 7 4
2020 0 28 4
2019 0 9 6
2018 0 0 4
2017 0 0 1
2016 0 2 6
2015 0 1 0
2014 0 10 9
2013 0 6 11
2012 0 5 18
2011 0 5 0
2010 0 0 3
2009 0 0 12
2008 0 0 18
2007 0 0 16
2006 0 0 4

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 Bewdley flood history.

Nearby Stations

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Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Bewdley
  • Watercourse: River Severn
  • Nearest Town: Bewdley
  • County: Worcestershire
  • Coordinates: 52°23'1"N 2°19'21"W (52.383563, -2.322438)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 1 Apr 1921
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
  • Station Reference: 2001
  • EA Gauge ID: 2001-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical rise rate: 2 cm/hr (p95 sustained over 90 days)
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Worcestershire Middle Severn
  • Typical Range: 0.207 – 3.300 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 4,325 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Available (m³/s) via EA Hydrology
  • EA Cross-check: 0.22 mASD (EA at 23 Aug 22:15)
  • 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

🌊 Mixed response A balance of quick runoff and slower groundwater baseflow.

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
0.54
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
980 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +5% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
2.0%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
341 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Recorded Flow
637 m³/s
21 Mar 1947
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 62.1420636.5310.905% (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 11%Grassland 57%Arable 25%Heath/scrub 2%Urban 4%Other 1%

Flow affected by: surface-water abstraction, reservoir influence, public water supply, groundwater abstraction, effluent returns, industrial / agricultural abstraction.

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

Currently an 18-path ultrasonic gauge this site was originally a VA station prior to 1989 and has been relocated in both 1950 and 1968.

More detail

The catchment

Diverse catchment; wet western 50% from impermeable Palaeozoic rocks and river gravels; drier northern 50% from Drift covered Carboniferous to Liassic sandstones and marls. Moorland, forestry, mixed farming.

The station

The current site was converted to an ultrasonic gauge in March 1982. The former Thermo gauge was upgraded during September 2019 and replaced with a nivus 18-path ultrasonic gauge. High flows are still measured using the velocity-area method. Site humbly started from individual staff gauge readings dating back to 1921 at Bewdley bandstand near Bewdley Bridge. Spot flow measurements were conducted 0.5miles upstream of Bewdley Bridge to build a stage discharge relationship. Later a station, Bewdley Recorder, formally opened at Elan Aqueduct 2.5miles upstream of Bewdley in 1923. However manual readings took place from the original site up until 1950. This measuring section used for the original site became the current location for the ultrasonic gauge at Bewdley. The installation of the site occurred in 1968. Records prior to 1968 are of modest precision and potentially there are inconsistencies due to datum changes. However the quality of data has been considered overall to be high.

How it measures flow

Multiple peak flow ratings applied across period of record. Uncertainty about the relationship at high flows for early record.

Flow regime

Naturalised flow series, from 1968 only, accommodates major usages other than g/w support. Some earlier records adjusted for Vyrnwy (1966-7). Significant exports for public water supply and power generation; minimum flow maintained by releases from Clywedog (built between 1965-67) and Vyrnwy Reservoirs (built between 1881 and 1888) and Shropshire groundwater.

The flow record

POTs available from 1972. The period-of-record maximum flow is listed as 637 cumecs in March 1947, although this is based on a daily mean flow (no instantaneous peak available) and the true peak is likely to have been higher. Lowest flows reprocessed in 1976 for 1921-68. Pre-1968 records have been correlated with the present station to produce a derived stage series for the present station. Further work is required to provide more confidence to the data series. Flows presented in NRFA apply a rating to the ultrasonic data so as to incorporate out of bank flow. The record given here combines the Elan Aqueduct, Bewdley Recorder, and Bewdley ultrasonic records. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in September 2020 (WINFAP Files v9).

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
1921
Station datum
17.0 mAOD
Flow record
1921–2024 · 103 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1923
Hydrometric area
54
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the River Severn at Bewdley flooding today?

The current level is 0.22m, which is within the typical range of 0.21 to 3.30m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Bewdley?

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 Severn at Bewdley?

The typical range at this station is 0.21m to 3.30m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 3.30m 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 →