Weather · Rivers and flooding

Rivers and flooding

Where the rivers stand against their normal range, how much rain has fallen on the hills, what the harbour gauges read, and the live FloodWatch status. Each reading says when it was taken.

Gauge readings updated Sat 14 Nov, 18:08. Warnings below are read live, not from this page.

FloodWatch: flood warnings in force

Checking FloodWatch…

What the levels mean

The Department of Infrastructure's own wording. Tidal and river or rainfall flooding have separate levels.

Level 0: Tidal: No warning in operation. Flooding not expected or danger passed
River and rainfall: No warning in operation. Flooding not expected or danger passed.
Level 1: Tidal: Flood Watch - Be aware of slight splash over of waves / small debris and prepare for risk of flooding (situation will be monitored and information updated).
River and rainfall: Flood Watch - Flooding possible. Be aware of surface water issues and prepare for risk of flooding (situation will be monitored and information updated).
Level 2: Tidal: Minor flooding is likely around inner harbours &/or waves are likely to break over exposed coastal roads with larger debris and temporary flooding.
River and rainfall: Minor flooding is likely inland (e.g. due to blocked drains, etc.), roads affected by a lot of surface water with temporary flooding in places.
Level 3: Tidal: Significant risk of flooding likely to cause damage and/or disruption
River and rainfall: Significant risk of flooding likely to cause damage and/or disruption

Forecasters at Ronaldsway update the status when needed. Source: Isle of Man Government, Department of Infrastructure, FloodWatch. Manx Wire names each point by its position; the Department does not name them.

Warning in the shipping forecast Ronaldsway Met Office

Checking the shipping forecast…

Read live from the Isle of Man Government shipping forecast; the warning is given word for word.

Where the gauges are 2 river, 6 rain, 4 tide; 3 rain not reporting

River gauge Rain gauge Tide gauge FloodWatch point, coloured by its level when the live status has loaded. Coastline © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Rivers latest reading against a year of daily means

Lhen Bridge
19 cm at 17:45
The reading is below the usual range. Usual range 26 to 54 cm (the middle 80% of daily means over the last year), median 32 cm. 12-month high: 104.9 cm on 6 Dec.
daily means, last 30 days
Sulby Mill Weir
29 cm at 17:48
The reading is within the usual range. Usual range 21 to 45 cm (the middle 80% of daily means over the last year), median 27 cm. 12-month high: 84.3 cm on 5 Feb.
daily means, last 30 days

Not reporting: Close Leece (no reading since 27 Mar); Corrany Weir (no reading since 27 Mar); Sulby Dam (no reading since 27 Mar); West Baldwin (no reading since 4 Oct).

Stage is the height of the water above each gauge's own zero, in centimetres: it is not the depth of the river or a flood level, and a daily mean can hide a higher peak within the day. Source: Isle of Man Government, Department of Infrastructure.

Rain gauges millimetres

Gauge	Last hour	Yesterday	7 days	Wettest day in a year
Beinn y Phott	0.0 17:00	0.2	3.2	43.8 7 Feb
Block Eary	0.0 17:00	0.0	3.2	45.2 7 Feb
Ellerslie	0.0 17:00	0.0	3.8	26.7 25 Mar
Mountain Box	0.0 02:00	1.2	5.2	45.4 18 Dec
Snaefell	0.0 17:00	0.0	8.8	34.0 24 Oct
South Barrule	0.0 17:00	0.0	6.6	30.6 25 Mar

Not reporting: Douglas Victoria Pier (no rain recorded on 364 of its 364 days in the last year; the other gauges recorded none on 31% to 52% of days); Point of Ayre (no rain recorded on 323 of its 338 days in the last year; the other gauges recorded none on 31% to 52% of days); Poortown (no rain recorded on 365 of its 365 days in the last year; the other gauges recorded none on 31% to 52% of days). The Department's feed still answers for these gauges, but its figures look like a stuck or switched-off sensor, so they are left out of the table and the counts.

The last hour is the latest hourly total; yesterday and the 7 days are complete days. A dash means the Department has no figure. A gauge is left out when its year of figures shows no rain on nine days in ten or more, or almost none compared with the other gauges. Source: Isle of Man Government, Department of Infrastructure.

Tide gauges and wind latest readings

Harbour gauge	Tide height	At
Castletown Harbour	3.85 m	17:40
Douglas Edward Pier	3.85 m	17:40
Peel Breakwater	2.88 m	17:40
Port St Mary	3.12 m	17:39

Heights as the Department's gauges report them. Predicted tide times are on the tides page.

Station	Wind	Gust
Castletown Harbour	SW 36 mph	41 mph
Snaefell	S 36 mph	39 mph
Port St Mary	SSW 30 mph	34 mph
Douglas Victoria Pier	SW 22 mph	29 mph
Laxey Harbour	S 23 mph	27 mph
Douglas Edward Pier	SW 13 mph	22 mph
Peel Breakwater	NNE 10 mph	14 mph
Point of Ayre	S 13 mph	–

The 8 windiest of the 10 stations that reported, at the last update, strongest first by the higher of the average wind and the gust (a station with no gust figure is ranked by its wind). A dash means no figure. The Department measures in metres a second; Manx Wire converts to miles an hour.

Sources and limits

River, rain, tide and wind gauges and FloodWatch: Isle of Man Government, Department of Infrastructure (Flood Management Division). The Department does not state a licence for these feeds; they are shown with credit and a link to the official weather stations page.
Shipping forecast: Isle of Man Government Met Office, Ronaldsway. Airport report: NOAA Aviation Weather Center. Aurora: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center. Earthquakes: British Geological Survey.
Gauges break and are switched off: a reading older than a week is not shown as current, and readings outside what a gauge can physically give are discarded. This page is not an official warning service: for the current position, use FloodWatch and Floodline 01624 686100. In an emergency ring 999.

At the last update: Ronaldsway Met Office shipping forecast could not be read (its last good data is kept); Department of Infrastructure hydrometric network: daily figures could not be read (its last good data is kept).