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Copley water level

River gauge, River Gaunless, Durham, United Kingdom

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Right now

Very low for mid-October

Water level

0.07m Steady over the last 24 hours

0.0 0.5 1.0 Highest onrecord 1.00 m Lowest on record -0.07 m

History

History
-0.00.20.40.6mOct 2025Jan 2026Apr 2026Jul 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range-0.00.20.40.6mOct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026Top of normal rangeBottom of normal range
-0.00.20.4mJanMarMayJulSepNov2026-0.00.20.4mJanAprJulOct2026

20252026

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

What this means

At 0.07 m, the River Gaunless at Copley is far below normal for mid-October.

That puts it 0.05 m below the median of 0.12 m for mid-October, based on 21 years of readings. A year ago it stood at 0.08 m (−0.01 m). The lowest reading on record is −0.07 m (August 9, 2003).

The level has held steady over the past 24 hours. Without real rain upstream, that is unlikely to change quickly.

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
0.12 m0.05 m below the median for this date
Normal for this date
0.08 m – 0.21 m8 years in 10 fall in this range (21 years of records)
Normal range
0.00 m – 0.60 m
Same day last year
0.08 m−0.01 m
Lowest and highest in 12 months
0.01 m – 0.48 m
Highest on record
1.00 mJuly 17, 2009
Lowest on record
−0.07 mAugust 9, 2003

On the river at Copley

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

Rain in the last 3 days: 0.8 mm. Rain that falls upstream can take hours or days to show up at a river gauge.

17 Sat 10° 5° – Wind 19 km/h
18 Sun 9° 4° 0.1 mm, 49% Wind 15 km/h
19 Mon 13° 6° 1.5 mm, 46% Wind 18 km/h
20 Tue 11° 6° 6.9 mm, 28% Wind 12 km/h
21 Wed 12° 8° 5.8 mm, 40% Wind 23 km/h
22 Thu 9° 6° 0.2 mm, 29% Wind 38 km/h
23 Fri 9° 4° 7.6 mm, 76% Wind 36 km/h

Forecast: Open-Meteo

Sunrise 07:40 AM Sunset 06:07 PM Daylight 10 hr, 27 min First quarter 38%

Map

Other gauges on the River Gaunless

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
LowlandsRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.08 m Normal ±0 4.9 km
Ramshaw MillRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.07 m Very low ±0 7.3 km
Spring Gardens DamRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.10 m Lowest on record ±0 8.3 km
West AucklandRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.13 m Normal ±0 9.7 km
Dovecote HillRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.47 m Very low ±0 13 km
South ChurchRiver gauge, River Gaunless 0.04 m Lowest on record ±0 14 km

Nearby gauges

Gauge Level Compared with normal 24 hours Distance
BedburnRiver gauge, Bedburn Beck 0.10 m Very low ±0 7.9 km
Oakley Cross BeckRiver gauge 0.20 m Low ±0 9.2 km
Barnard CastleRiver gauge, River Tees 0.44 m Low −0.06 m 9.3 km
Witton ParkRiver gauge, River Wear 0.32 m Very low ±0 10 km
Crook West Bridge StreetRiver gauge, Crook Beck 0.01 m Very low ±0 13 km

Questions and answers

How does the River Gaunless at Copley compare with last year?

It is 0.01 m lower than on the same day last year, when the reading was 0.08 m.

What is a normal level for the River Gaunless at Copley in mid-October?

The median for mid-October is 0.12 m. In 8 years out of 10 the reading falls between 0.08 m and 0.21 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 0.07 m on the gauge does not mean the water is that deep.

What is the water level of Copley today?

On 17 Oct 2026, 06:45 BST, the water level was 0.07 m. Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is Copley rising or falling?

Steady over the last 24 hours.

Is the level of Copley normal?

Very 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 Copley?

The highest level on record is 1.00 m on July 17, 2009. The lowest is −0.07 m on August 9, 2003.

For specialists

Station codes, datum, parameters, data quality and downloads
Operator
Environment Agency
Station code
ea:024014 (Agency page)
Coordinates
54.62006, -1.86833 (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 0.07 m 2026-10-17 05:45 Provisional

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How to cite

Environment Agency: Copley (ea:024014). Accessed October 17, 2026 via Nivelmap, https://nivelmap.com/en/united-kingdom/durham/copley

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.