← Back
0.08

Oak Cottage

Dowles Brook
Worcestershire Middle Severn catchment • Wyre Forest • Worcestershire • ID: 2034 • Level
(47m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 139 views

Set water level alerts

Get notified about Oak Cottage — tick as many as you like, they all share the notify settings below.

Drag the line on the chart, or type a value: mASD
Quick pick:

Each one is saved as its own alert — pause or remove them individually any time.

Not an emergency service — if in danger call 999. Alerts rely on EA/SEPA/NRW data and are best-efforts. Terms

Current Level
0.084 mASD
▬ Steady
24h Max
0.084 mASD
24h Min
0.084 mASD
Typical Range
0.08 - 1.00
mASD
Highest Recorded
3.32 mASD
EA official record
3.23 in our data (since Aug 1971)
Current level is 3% of this
🚽 Sewage overflows nearby

Recent Water Levels

🌍 floodradar.co.uk
1 day

Recent Readings

Steady over 6h
09 Oct 19:00 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 18:45 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 18:30 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 18:15 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 18:00 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 17:45 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 17:30 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 17:15 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 17:00 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 16:45 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 16:30 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 16:15 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 16:00 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 15:30 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 15:00 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 14:45 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 14:15 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 14:00 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 13:45 ▬ steady 0.084 mASD
09 Oct 13:30 0.084 mASD

Station Details

  • Monitoring Station: Oak Cottage
  • Watercourse: Dowles Brook
  • Nearest Town: Wyre Forest
  • County: Worcestershire
  • Coordinates: 52°23'7"N 2°20'16"W (52.385318, -2.337878)
  • Open in: Google Maps · Apple Maps (opens your maps app)
  • Date Opened: 24 Aug 1971
  • Status: Active
  • Station Type: River level station
Technical details: references, datum, range, flow archive
  • Station Reference: 2034
  • RLOI id: 2023 (the EA's check-for-flooding station id)
  • EA Gauge ID: 2034-level-stage-i-15_min-mASD
  • Parameter: Level
  • Unit: mASD
  • Typical data delay: ~22 min (measured reading→publication lag)
  • Tidal: No
  • Lock / structure: No
  • Catchment Area: Worcestershire Middle Severn
  • Typical Range: 0.084 – 1.000 mASD
  • Drainage Area: 41 km² upstream of this gauge
  • Flow Data: Daily mean flow (m³/s) to 7 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: 0.08 mASD (EA at 9 Oct 19:00)
  • 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 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.

12 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

In a typical year this gauge reaches its typical high of 1.00 m on about 1 day. This year so far: 2 days.

2026 2 days so far
2025 1 day
2024 3 days
2023 2 days
2022 0 days
2021 0 days
2020 1 day
2019 1 day
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 2006 for the 13 flood areas linked to this gauge (nearest 1.1 km away).

1severe warning 131flood warnings 142flood alerts

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

Year by year
YearSevereWarningsAlerts
2026 0 0 9
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 Wyre Forest 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

🌊 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
0.63
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
749 mm/yr
1991–2020 · -1% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.1%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
9.61 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
31.16 m³/s
15 Feb 2020 · daily mean, not the instantaneous peak
Flow-Duration Curve
mean 0.3781.500.1480.0305% (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 43%Grassland 37%Arable 17%Urban 3%

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

Flat V Crump profile weir with cableway with flood banks on a 36m wide floodplain that should contain high flows but with some bypassing.

More detail

The catchment

The catchment is mostly Drift free, situated on sandstones and marls of Upper Carboniferous age. The river bisects the Wyre Forest; all but the headwaters are afforested.

The station

Flat V Crump profile weir 6m wide, with a cableway to allow high flow gauging.

How it measures flow

Mostly modular even at high flows. Flood banks on a 36m wide floodplain should contain most flows but bypassing does occur- high range defined by few gaugings of dubious quality (weir only 1m deep). Cableway rated for high flows. Very few gaugings at high flows, but reasonably good fit at most levels.

Flow regime

Flashy response. No significant abstractions or returns but flow patterns can be affected by sluice operation.

The flow record

Reliability of summer 2007 high flows uncertain due to station bypassing and possible elevated levels through backing up. 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
Gauging structure
Operating since
1971
Station datum
24.2 mAOD
Flow record
1971–2024 · 53 yrs · 100% complete
Peak-flow record
since 1971
Hydrometric area
54
Measured by
Environment Agency

Frequently asked questions

Is the Dowles Brook at Oak Cottage flooding today?

The current level is 0.08m, which is within the typical range of 0.08 to 1.00m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.

Is the river level rising or falling at Oak Cottage?

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 Dowles Brook at Oak Cottage?

The typical range at this station is 0.08m to 1.00m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 1.00m 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.

Preview

📮 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 →