BGS Hosted Metadata
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
- Citation identifier
- https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368
- Citation identifier
- doi: / 10.5285/211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368
- Other citation details
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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
- Point of contact
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role Newcastle University Felipe Fileni
Point of contact Newcastle University Fileni, F. Author Newcastle University Fowler, H.J. Author Manchester University Lewis, E. Author UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Fry, M. Author UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Cooper, H. Author UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Swain, O.
Author University of Bristol Coxon, G. Author Environment Agency McLay, F.
Author Scottish Environment Protection Agency Bruce, E.
Author Northumbria University Yang, L. Author Newcastle University Archer, D. Author Newcastle University EMAIL NOT PROVIDED
Owner UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Owner Environment Agency EMAIL NOT PROVIDED
Owner Scottish Environment Protection Agency EMAIL NOT PROVIDED
Owner NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre Publisher NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre Custodian
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GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
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Environmental Monitoring Facilities
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- Access constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
- no limitations
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
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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
- Text, table
- Language
- English
- Character set
- UTF8
- Topic category
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- Environment
- Inland waters
- Begin date
- 1948-01-01
- End date
- 2023-12-31
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- Unique resource identifier
- WGS 84
- Distribution format
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Name Version Comma-separated values (CSV)
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- Distributor contact
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
Distributor
- OnLine resource
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Protocol Linkage Name https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/datastore/eidchub/211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368 Download the data
- OnLine resource
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Protocol Linkage Name https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/sd/211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368.zip Supporting information
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Other
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dataset
Conformance result
- Title
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Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services
- Date (Publication)
- 2010-12-08
- Statement
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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.
Metadata
- File identifier
- 211710ac-f01b-4b52-807f-373babb1c368 XML
- Metadata language
- English
- Character set
- 8859 Part 1
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Hierarchy level name
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dataset
- Date stamp
- 2025-10-22T14:56:51
- Metadata standard name
- UK GEMINI
- Metadata standard version
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2.3
- Metadata author
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre Point of contact
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