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Wearhead water level

River gauge, Killhope Burn, Durham, United Kingdom

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Right now

Low for mid-October

Water level

0.11m Steady over the last 24 hours

0 1 Highest onrecord 1.54 m Lowest on record -0.10 m

History

History
-0.00.10.20.3mOct 16Oct 16Oct 16Oct 17Oct 17Bottom of normal range-0.00.10.20.3mOct 16Oct 16Oct 17Bottom of normal range
-0.00.20.4mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Bottom of normal range-0.00.20.4mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Bottom of normal range
0.20.4mJanMarMayJulSepNov20260.20.4mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

At 0.11 m, Killhope Burn at Wearhead is below normal for mid-October.

The median for mid-October is 0.16 m, based on 21 years of readings, so the river level is 0.05 m below typical. On the same day last year the reading was 0.08 m, a difference of +0.03 m.

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 0.11 m and 0.12 m.

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

Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year. How to read levels

Key numbers

Median for this date
0.16 m0.05 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.11 m – 0.33 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.01 m – 1.13 m
Same day last year
0.08 m+0.03 m
Lowest and highest in 30 days
0.11 m – 0.12 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.06 m – 0.41 m
Highest on record
1.54 mMay 18, 2013
Lowest on record
−0.10 mSeptember 10, 2001

On the river at Wearhead

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.

Weather at the gauge

Rain in the last 3 days: 4.9 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

17 Sat 9° 4° – Wind 14 km/h
18 Sun 8° 2° – Wind 13 km/h
19 Mon 11° 4° 3.3 mm, 75% Wind 19 km/h
20 Tue 10° 7° 5.2 mm, 37% Wind 17 km/h
21 Wed 11° 7° 5.2 mm, 57% Wind 26 km/h
22 Thu 7° 4° 7.0 mm, 47% Wind 41 km/h
23 Fri 8° 4° 5.8 mm, 82% Wind 37 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:42 AM Sunset 06:08 PM Daylight 10 hr, 26 min First quarter 40%

Map

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
HarwoodRiver gauge, Harwood Beck 0.20 m Normal −0.04 m 9.0 km
EastgateRiver gauge, Rookhope Burn 0.04 m Very low ±0 9.7 km
MoorhouseRiver gauge, Trout Beck 0.15 m Normal −0.06 m 12 km
StanhopeRiver gauge, River Wear 0.22 m Normal −0.01 m 13 km
AlstonRiver gauge, River South Tyne 0.30 m Normal −0.07 m 15 km
Allen Mill BridgeRiver gauge, River East Allen 0.21 m Normal −0.01 m 17 km
MiddletonRiver gauge, River Tees 0.44 m Low −0.01 m 18 km
Hindley Wrae FordRiver gauge, River West Allen 0.00 m Lowest on record −0.02 m 19 km

Questions and answers

Is Killhope Burn at Wearhead higher than last year?

Yes, it is 0.03 m higher than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.08 m.

What is a normal level for Killhope Burn at Wearhead in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.16 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.11 m and 0.33 m, based on 21 years of records.

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

What is the water level of Wearhead today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 12:30 BST, the water level was 0.11 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Wearhead rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Wearhead normal?

Low for mid-October. Compared with 21 years of daily readings for this time of year.

What is the highest water level ever recorded at Wearhead?

The highest level on record is 1.54 m on May 18, 2013. The lowest is −0.10 m on September 10, 2001.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:024010 (Agency page)
Coordinates
54.75382, -2.22525 (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 0.11 m 2026-10-17 11:30 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Wearhead (ea:024010). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/durham/wearhead

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.