dataset · England

Realtime Flood Data River Levels

This record is for Approval for Access product AfA104 Realtime Flood Data River Levels. This dataset covers monitoring data that is only updated on our systems on a daily update cycle. This is usually increased during times of flooding etc. Readings are transferred via telemetry to internal and external systems in or close to real time. This data may be transferred to these systems or users at different intervals varying for example from once per day during normal conditions to several times per

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Source details

Licence: UK Open Government Licence (OGL)

Evidence quality: 60.8

Listed in data.gov.uk public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).

Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z

What's in it

Data offered docs-verified: water level (height in m) at river, lake and coastal sites · reservoir level (some sites) · coastal level (some sites)
Coverage docs-verified: England: 1400 river gauging stations and 1800 river level-only sites, plus some reservoirs and coastal sites. Wales data is included but owned by NRW.
Resolution docs-verified: Point measurements at gauge sites; readings usually every 15 minutes
Update frequency docs-verified: Daily update cycle on publisher systems; transfer intervals vary from once per day in normal conditions to several times per day during a flood event
Access docs-verified: Free and open. No public access constraints; use is subject to the UK Open Government Licence (OGL). No authentication listed.

Useful for

Use cases llm-inferred: Flood risk assessment: historic river level records and peak levels at the nearest gauge · Flood event context for site investigations and emergency response reviews · Hydraulic model calibration and validation against observed river levels
Audience llm-inferred: flood consultants · hydrologists · drainage engineers · civils engineers

Limitations

Constraints llm-inferred: England-focused; Wales data is owned by Natural Resources Wales · Level-only sites (1800) do not provide flow measurements · Publisher systems update on a daily cycle, so data is not fully real time for all users · Transfer intervals vary with conditions, so update timing is not guaranteed · Record metadata shows a last update of 22 January 2020, so currency should be checked before use

Evidence

Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.