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South Church water level

River gauge, River Gaunless, Durham, United Kingdom

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Right now

Lower than ever recorded here

Water level

0.05m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 2 Highest onrecord 2.47 m Lowest on record 0.05 m

History

History
0.10.2mOct 11Oct 13Oct 15Oct 17Oct 18Bottom of normal range0.10.2mOct 11Oct 15Oct 18Bottom of normal range
0.10.2mSep 18Sep 26Oct 3Oct 11Oct 18Bottom of normal range0.10.2mSep 18Oct 3Oct 18Bottom of normal range
-0.00.51.0mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range-0.00.51.0mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
-0.00.30.50.8mJanMarMayJulSepNov2026-0.00.30.50.8mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

Water level Normal range (10–90 %) Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range

What this means

At 0.05 m, the River Gaunless at South Church is at a record low.

It has now dropped past the published record low of 0.05 m (July 28, 2004). The median for mid-October is 0.13 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.08 m below typical. A year ago it stood at 0.04 m as well.

It has barely moved over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly. Over the past 30 days it has moved between 0.04 m and 0.08 m.

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

Compared with the highest and lowest levels the agency has recorded at this gauge. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date
0.13 m0.08 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.07 m – 0.25 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.08 m – 1.31 m
Same day last year
0.04 m0.00 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.04 m – 0.08 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.04 m – 0.89 m
Highest on record
2.47 mJune 4, 2000
Lowest on record
0.05 mJuly 28, 2004
Lowest on record
0.01 m below the lowest level on record

On the river at South Church

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 Gaunless

River Gaunless

The Gaunless is a tributary river of the Wear in County Durham, England. Its name is Old Norse, meaning "useless". The Gaunless Viaduct, built in 1825, was the tallest viaduct on the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway.

Read more on Wikipedia

Text and image from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA.

Weather at the gauge

No rain in the last 3 days.

18 Sun 11° 6° 0.4 mm, 49% Wind 15 km/h
19 Mon 14° 5° 0.1 mm, 90% Wind 21 km/h
20 Tue 11° 8° 12 mm, 58% Wind 14 km/h
21 Wed 11° 6° 2.0 mm, 65% Wind 20 km/h
22 Thu 11° 3° 0.9 mm, 34% Wind 16 km/h
23 Fri 7° 2° – Wind 21 km/h
24 Sat 9° 3° – Wind 33 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:41 AM Sunset 06:04 PM Daylight 10 hr, 22 min First quarter 52%

Map

Other gauges on the River Gaunless

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Dovecote HillRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.46 m Very low ±0 0.8 km
West AucklandRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.14 m Normal ±0 4.1 km
Spring Gardens DamRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.10 m Lowest on record ±0 5.4 km
Ramshaw MillRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.07 m Very low ±0 6.4 km
LowlandsRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.08 m Normal ±0 9.0 km
CopleyRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.07 m Very low ±0 14 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
Oakley Cross BeckRiver gauge 0.20 m Low ±0 4.7 km
Witton ParkRiver gauge, River Wear 0.31 m Very low ±0 5.3 km
Crook West Bridge StreetRiver gauge, Crook Beck 0.01 m Lowest on record ±0 8.9 km
Sunderland BridgeRiver gauge, River Wear 0.26 m Very low ±0 11 km
BedburnRiver gauge, Bedburn Beck 0.10 m Very low ±0 11 km

Questions and answers

Is the River Gaunless at South Church higher than last year?

It is about the same as on this day last year, when the reading was 0.04 m.

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 0.05 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of South Church today?

On 18 Oct 2026, 20:00 BST, the water level was 0.05 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is South Church rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours. Steady over the last 7 days.

Is the level of South Church normal?

Lower than ever recorded here. Compared with the highest and lowest levels the agency has recorded at this gauge.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at South Church?

The highest level on record is 2.47 m on June 4, 2000. The lowest is 0.05 m on July 28, 2004.

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:024000 (Agency page)
Coordinates
54.64932, -1.66212 (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

ParameterLast valueTime (UTC)Quality
Water level 0.05 m 2026-10-18 19:00 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: South Church (ea:024000). Accessed October 18, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/durham/south-church

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.