Sub-hourly river flow data observations from 1369 river gauges in the UK, 1948-2023 (UK-Flow15)
This dataset provides a coherent, quality-controlled collection of 15-minute river flow observations from across the United Kingdom. It brings together more than 1,300 gauging stations and over 50,000 station-years of data collected by the main UK measuring authorities - the Environment Agency (England), Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural Resources Wales, the Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland), and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. The records span from 1948 to the present day and represent the first national-scale compilation of sub-daily flow data in a consistent format. The dataset was created by assembling raw hydrometric records from open APIs and data requests to measuring authorities, then standardising them to a uniform 15-minute time step. A structured quality control framework was applied to identify and flag potential issues such as missing or duplicated values, irregular time steps, and implausible flow events. Each record includes a detailed quality code indicating the outcome of these checks, and a suite of accompanying metadata files provides full traceability of data provenance, quality control results, and any adjustments made during processing. The resource is designed to support large-sample and national-scale hydrological research, particularly for applications requiring high-resolution data such as flood analysis, catchment response studies, and model calibration. Full details about this dataset can be found at
https://doi.org/10.5285/211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368
Simple
- Date (Publication)
- 2025-10-22
- Identifier
- doi: / 10.5285/211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368
- Other citation details
- Fileni, F., Fowler, H.J., Lewis, E., Fry, M., Cooper, H., Swain, O., Coxon, G., McLay, F., Bruce, E., Yang, L., Archer, D. (2025). Sub-hourly river flow data observations from 1369 river gauges in the UK, 1948-2023 (UK-Flow15). NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre 10.5285/211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368
- GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
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- Environmental Monitoring Facilities
- Access constraints
- otherRestrictions Other restrictions
- Other constraints
- no limitations
- Use constraints
- otherRestrictions Other restrictions
- Use constraints
- otherRestrictions Other restrictions
- Other constraints
- If you reuse this data, you should cite: Fileni, F., Fowler, H.J., Lewis, E., Fry, M., Cooper, H., Swain, O., Coxon, G., McLay, F., Bruce, E., Yang, L., Archer, D. (2025). Sub-hourly river flow data observations from 1369 river gauges in the UK, 1948-2023 (UK-Flow15). NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre https://doi.org/10.5285/211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368
- Spatial representation type
- textTable Text, table
- Metadata language
- EnglishEnglish
- Character set
- utf8 UTF8
- Topic category
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- Environment
- Inland waters
- Begin date
- 1948-01-01
- End date
- 2023-12-31
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W
- Unique resource identifier
- WGS 84
- Distribution format
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Comma-separated values (CSV)
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png
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Comma-separated values (CSV)
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- OnLine resource
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Download the data
Download a copy of this data
- OnLine resource
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Supporting information
Supporting information available to assist in re-use of this dataset
- Hierarchy level
- dataset Dataset
- Other
- dataset
Conformance result
- Date (Publication)
- 2010-12-08
- Statement
- The dataset compiles 15-minute river flow observations from over 1,300 UK gauging stations managed by the Environment Agency, SEPA, NRW, DfI Northern Ireland, and UKCEH. Original field measurements of river stage were made using weirs, flumes, velocity-area methods, and ultrasonic sensors, then converted to discharge (m³ s⁻¹) using rating curves maintained by each authority. Data were accessed via APIs and formal requests, retaining only stations with official NRFA identifiers. All time series were standardised to a uniform 15-minute interval, and duplicate or irregular records were corrected. A structured quality control framework was applied, including consistency checks against NRFA daily and peak-flow datasets, automated anomaly detection, and plausibility tests for high-flow events. Each observation carries a QC code, and metadata files record all processing and assessment steps. Users should consult these metadata to evaluate data suitability for specific analyses.
- File identifier
- 211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368 XML
- Metadata language
- EnglishEnglish
- Character set
- ISO/IEC 8859-1 (also known as Latin 1) 8859 Part 1
- Hierarchy level
- dataset Dataset
- Hierarchy level name
- dataset
- Date stamp
- 2025-10-22T14:56:51
- Metadata standard name
- UK GEMINI
- Metadata standard version
- 2.3
Point of contact
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg
,
Lancaster
,
LA1 4AP
,
UK
https://eidc.ac.uk/
Overviews
Spatial extent
N
S
E
W
Provided by
Associated resources
Not available
NERC Data Catalogue Service