Blackburn Waterfall water level

Name: Blackburn Waterfall water level (Environment Agency)
Creator: Environment Agency
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

River gauge, River Darwen, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Directions

Below the normal range

Water level

0.48m Down 0.04 m over the last 24 hours

Measured 18 Oct 2026, 15:30 BST (24 min ago)

History

7 days 30 days

Water level Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range

What this means

At 0.48 m, the River Darwen at Blackburn Waterfall is below normal.

The usual range here runs from 0.50 m to 1.40 m.

The level is falling, down 0.04 m over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.39 m and 0.95 m.

Autumn rain usually starts to lift rivers again after the summer low.

Compared with the normal range the agency publishes for this gauge. How to read levels

Key numbers

Normal range: 0.50 m – 1.40 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days: 0.39 m – 0.95 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months: 0.40 m – 0.76 m
Highest on record: 3.42 mDecember 26, 2015
Lowest on record: 0.46 mNovember 25, 2021

On the river at Blackburn Waterfall

Low, clear water makes fish wary, and anglers often do better early and late in the day. For canoeists, shallow riffles mean scraped hulls and the odd portage.

Flood warnings for the area come from the Environment Agency.

About the River Darwen

The River Darwen runs through Darwen and Blackburn in Lancashire, England, eventually joining the River Ribble at Walton le Dale south of Preston on its way to the Ribble Estuary.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 3.1 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

18 Sun 11° 3° 0.1 mm Wind 13 km/h

19 Mon 14° 7° 1.7 mm, 32% Wind 23 km/h

20 Tue 12° 8° 8.3 mm, 68% Wind 10 km/h

21 Wed 10° 7° 2.2 mm, 78% Wind 23 km/h

22 Thu 11° 6° 2.4 mm, 55% Wind 18 km/h

23 Fri 8° 4° – Wind 19 km/h

24 Sat 9° 5° 5.1 mm, 90% Wind 36 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:43 AM Sunset 06:09 PM Daylight 10 hr, 26 min First quarter 50%

Map

Other gauges on the River Darwen

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
EwoodRiver gauge, River Darwen	0.34 m	Normal	−0.03 m	0.7 km
Hardman WayRiver gauge, River Darwen	0.07 m	Normal	−0.01 m	5.1 km
Darwen Clough Street OverflowRiver gauge, River Darwen	0.52 m	Normal	−0.01 m	6.5 km
Blue BridgeRiver gauge, River Darwen	0.30 m	Low	−0.05 m	11 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge	Level	Compared with normal	24 hours	Distance
Harrison StreetRiver gauge, River Blakewater	0.42 m	Normal	−0.01 m	0.9 km
Ewood Ashville Terrace NorthRiver gauge, Ewood Mill Race	−0.04 m	Lowest on record	±0	1.3 km
Ewood Ashville Terrace SouthRiver gauge, Ewood Mill Race	0.02 m	Lowest on record	−0.02 m	1.3 km
Gorse StreetRiver gauge, River Blakewater	0.05 m	Low	−0.01 m	3.2 km
Ribchester SchoolRiver gauge, River Ribble	0.21 m	Normal	−0.09 m	8.6 km
MilnshawRiver gauge, River Hyndburn	0.26 m	Normal	±0	8.7 km
Ribchester Sarmatian BridgeRiver gauge, Boyces Brook	0.07 m	Normal	−0.01 m	9.1 km

Questions and answers

What is the typical range for the River Darwen at Blackburn Waterfall?

The Environment Agency gives a typical range of 0.50 m to 1.40 m for this gauge.

Is the river level the same as the depth of the water?

No. The reading is measured from a fixed zero mark at the gauge, so 0.48 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Blackburn Waterfall today?

On 18 Oct 2026, 15:30 BST, the water level was 0.48 m. Down 0.04 m over the last 24 hours.

Is Blackburn Waterfall rising or falling?

Down 0.04 m over the last 24 hours. Down 0.08 m over the last 7 days.

Is the level of Blackburn Waterfall normal?

Below the normal range. Compared with the normal range the agency publishes for this gauge.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Blackburn Waterfall?

The highest level on record is 3.42 m on December 26, 2015. The lowest is 0.46 m on November 25, 2021.

How often is this data updated?

The Environment Agency publishes a new reading every 15 minutes. This page refreshes within minutes of each update.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads

Operator: Environment Agency
Station code: ea:713118 (Agency page)
Coordinates: 53.73680, -2.49679 (WGS84)
Vertical datum: station datum
Update interval: every 15 minutes
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Environment Agency data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0

Published series

Parameter	Last value	Time (UTC)	Quality
Water level	0.48 m	2026-10-18 14:30	Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Blackburn Waterfall (ea:713118). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/lancashire/blackburn-waterfall

How we check values

Each reading is stored as published. We hold back values that jump faster than physically plausible and show the measurement time with every value.

Readings are provisional, can be delayed or wrong and are not a flood warning. Read the disclaimer