Flood Watch

Live Environment Agency flood warnings and the River Douglas level for Wigan, in plain words.

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Town Tools builds free, public tools for Wigan and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

River levels

Levels are measured against each gauge’s usual range — “above typical” doesn’t mean flooding, but it’s the first thing that moves when water is on its way.

Gauge	Speaks for	Reading	Level
River Douglas at Wigan	The Douglas as it runs through the town, below the town-centre reaches and the Leeds–Liverpool Canal crossings.	0.147 m	Within typical range
River Douglas at Red Rock	Upstream of town towards Haigh — a rise here tends to reach Wigan a little later.	0.157 m	Within typical range

Each reading is metres on that gauge’s own scale, so compare a gauge with itself over time — not one gauge with another.

Worth knowing

Where water shows up in Wigan

Wigan sits on the River Douglas and the Leeds–Liverpool Canal, and the everyday problem is usually surface water and blocked gullies after heavy rain rather than the river itself. A blocked drain or gully on the road is reported to the council; this page is for the river and the official warnings around it.

What the river level means

The number is the height of the water at the gauge in metres, not a depth on any street. "Above the typical range" means the river is higher than usual for that spot — worth keeping an eye on — but only the Environment Agency issues a flood warning, and that is what the section at the top of this page shows.

If a warning is in force

Sign up for free flood warnings by phone, text or email through the Environment Agency, and follow the official advice. In an emergency where flooding threatens life, call 999; to report flooding from rivers, call the Environment Agency Floodline on 0345 988 1188 (24 hours).