Rose 0.06 m since 07:30 — peaked 1.22 at 12:15, now 1.20 and easing
1.20
Skelton
Ouse
Swale, Ure, Nidd and Upper Ouse catchment
• Nether Poppleton • York • ID: F2405 • Level
(24m ago) • 4 readings/hr • 157 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
1.196 m
▲▼ Crested · peaked 1.22
24h Max
1.215 m
24h Min
0.850 m
Typical Range
0.51 - 6.10
m
Highest Recorded
6.79 m
EA official record
A 9.26 reading (20 May 2015) sits in our unverified raw history and is not treated as the record
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. The nearest rain gauge has sent no readings in the last day, so Nimbus has no recent measured rain to work from here.
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.
168 storm overflows are traced upstream of this gauge, the nearest 1.1 km away along the river. 0 report discharging now, 158 report not discharging, and for 10 the monitor is offline or has not reported, so their status is not known.
Yorkshire Water · into New Dike · 4.3 km away in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map
6 spills · 17 hours in 2025
Not discharging now · last
11 more within 6 km whose connection is not known.
43 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 Nether Poppleton flood history.
Flood areas linked to this gauge
Flood warnings and alerts are issued for whole areas. These are the 26 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
0.44
mixed response
Avg Annual Rainfall
972 mm/yr
1991–2020 · +6% since 1941–70
Urban Extent
1.5%
largely rural
Median Annual Flood
323 m³/s
QMED — typical yearly peak flow
Highest Daily Mean Flow
608 m³/s
5 Jan 1982 · 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.
Multi-path ultrasonic station since 1992. Previously velocity-area station. Catchment drains northern parts of the Vale of York and the Yorkshire Dales.
More detail
The catchment
Mixed geology, mostly of moderate permeability but highly permeable in lower reaches; extensive superficial deposits mask solid geology in much of catchment, particularly Vale of York. Large areas of Carboniferous Limestone and Millstone Grit in the west, Permian Magnesian Limestone in the central area and Keuper Marl and Triassic Sandstone to the east. Along the eastern border are rocks of the Lias and Great and Inferior Oolite Series. Predominantly rural catchment draining north parts of Vale of York and Yorkshire Dales, with some moorland headwaters. No known catchment changes.
The station
Multi-path (cross-configuration) ultrasonic station from 1992. It was previously a velocity-area station since 1956 (37m wide at low flows), with control exercised mainly by Naburn weir, 13km d/s. A key station for regulation of public water supply abstractions and flood risk management. It is a difficult site for flood estimation due to lack of similar catchments yet is not entirely suitable for single-site analysis.
How it measures flow
Velocity area station until 1992 with control influenced by the downstream channel and by Naburn weir, replaced by ultrasonic gauge from 1992. Banks raised when US gauge built, some minor bypassing in high flows prior to that, now all flow contained through the gauge section. Daily flow rating affected by sluice gate settings at Naburn, previous attempts to apply different ratings to account for this were unreliable, recent review (2023) reverted to single best fit rating curve for low flows, significant scatter in check gaugings show inherent variability in pre-ultrasonic flow data. Three high flow ratings applied to pre-ultrasonic period, based on hydraulic model analysis and check gaugings, and influenced by construction of flood defences downstream in York. Ultrasonic data since 1992, with back up ratings to infill where required, considered good throughout the range, although AMAX1 event (Nov 2000) had some unmeasured flow with estimated peak around 5% higher than measured.
Flow regime
Large catchment with significant floodplains leads to long, slow flood response lasting several days. Reservoirs influence flows in the Ure and Nidd tributaries, public water supply abstraction u/s at Niddmouth also a significant impact on low flows. Hydropower scheme at Linton Weir leads to short-term fluctuations in low flows but not significant at daily timestep.
The flow record
Pre-1992 records less reliable due to variability in stage-discharge relationship. Records reprocessed from 1969 following rating review, peak flows increased pre-1982 and reduced 1982-1992 as a result, daily flows also amended for this period. Nov 2000 peak under-estimated by gauge, peak flow has been corrected. Full period of record peak flow data reviewed and released in August 2024 (WINFAP Files v13).
Timing, not cause. Gauges can move together simply because the same rain fell on both.
Frequently asked questions
Is the River Ouse at Skelton flooding today?
The current level is 1.20m, which is within the typical range of 0.51 to 6.10m. Flooding is unlikely at this level.
Is the river level rising or falling at Skelton?
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 Ouse at Skelton?
The typical range at this station is 0.51m to 6.10m, based on Environment Agency historical data. Levels above 6.10m 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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27 Sep 2012 Instrument house looking upstream from access track. River to the left of the image, water to right of the track is floodplain storage originating from backing up in small tributary upstream of the station, all returns upstream.
27 Sep 2012 High flow (and details in further comments)
27 Sep 2012 Cableway
27 Sep 2012 Cableway
27 Sep 2012 Downstream view to gauging station
15 Apr 2007 ultrasonic section viewed from right bank
15 Apr 2007 ultrasonic section viewed from left bank
15 Apr 2007 looking upstream towards gauge section
1 Aug 2000 view across section from RB
LB upstream transducer rack
Gaugeboards
LB downstream transducer rack