Enhanced flood warning and river level data service launched by NRW

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has introduced improved digital services to provide comprehensive flood risk, river level, rainfall and sea level information to households, businesses and communities in Wales.

The River Level, Rainfall and Sea Data (RLRS), Flood Warnings and Alerts (FWAA) and 5-Day Flood Risk (5DFR) services launched today (14 September) on the NRW website will improve how live flood warning and water level data is shared before and during flood events.  

The River Level, Rainfall and Sea Data service, which provides live data from over 400 monitoring stations across Wales, is also a valuable resource for recreational river users, such as anglers and water-based activity enthusiasts.

Jeremy Parr, NRW’s Head of Flood and Incident Risk Management said:

“The new digital services are being introduced as part of our commitment to improve warning and informing services to support communities in Wales at risk of flooding.

“Flooding can be devastating, and it is important that there is comprehensive flood risk and river level information available to everyone. 

“The very wet winter period and this year’s flood events in several communities across Wales have shown the significant impacts flooding can have on families, businesses and communities.

“The scientific consensus is that our climate is changing and extreme weather events like those experienced this year will become more common.

“This means that we will all need to change and adapt to make ourselves as resilient as possible to the impacts which climate change will continue to have on our communities.

“We remain determined to work in partnership to build that resilience and enhance our readiness to tackle the climate emergency as a collective.”

The new services feature a number of improvements to the existing Check River Levels and Check Flood Warnings pages on the NRW website.

These include greater functionality, more detailed maps, larger data sets, improved mobile device compatibility, and a better user experience through quicker and easier navigation between information on warnings in force and water levels.

Jeremy added:

“The improvements to our digital services have been made in response to user feedback received in recent years about the existing services.

“The existing services will continue to be available alongside the newly launched ones until October.  As we head into the autumn and winter, we’d encourage users to familiarise themselves with the new services during this period.

“We’d welcome any feedback to help shape future improvements. Users can notify us of any issues by using the ‘Feedback’ button on the website.”

The new services can be accessed via the links to the existing Check Flood Warnings and Check River Levels pages on the NRW website, available at www.naturalresources.wales/flooding