Flood risk by postcode

How do I check if my property is at risk of flooding?

Enter its postcode above. You get the Environment Agency's count of the homes and businesses at the postcode in each band of long-term risk from rivers and the sea, and the flood warning areas its centre is in.

For one address, and for surface water, use GOV.UK's long-term flood risk checker: it answers for a single property.

What do high, medium, low and very low mean?

In England, each band is the Environment Agency's chance of flooding in any one year: high, 3.3% or more a year (1 in 30); medium, 1% to 3.3% a year; low, 0.1% to 1% a year; very low, under 0.1% a year (1 in 1,000). The Environment Agency works it out for areas of land, not for single buildings.

In Scotland, SEPA maps high, medium and low likelihood: high, a flood about once in 10 years on average, a 10% chance each year; medium, about once in 200 years, a 0.5% chance each year; low, about once in 1,000 years, a 0.1% chance each year.

In Wales, Natural Resources Wales maps each area at high, medium, low or very low risk, the chance of flooding in any one year. Its own pages explain each level.

My postcode is not on the list. Does that mean no risk?

It means no home or business at the postcode is in an area the Environment Agency puts at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. It does not cover surface water, groundwater or sewers, which GOV.UK's checker does.

Does this cover Wales and Scotland?

Yes. For a Scottish postcode we ask SEPA's flood maps, and for a Welsh one Natural Resources Wales's Flood Risk Assessment Wales, whether its centre is in an area mapped at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea or surface water, and at what level. Each answers for the centre of the postcode; SEPA's and NRW's own checks, linked here, answer for any address.

Get warned before it floods

The Environment Agency sends free flood warnings by phone, text or email for the areas you choose.