Are You Living in a Flood Zone? Here’s How to Find Out

Has the thought of your home or business being at risk of flooding ever crossed your mind? For lots of people it may not be something that has ever been considered. But as we move into wetter months with more rainfall it is a good idea to make yourself aware of the flood risk to your property and whether you are in a Flood Zone. With an increasingly changeable climate including more persistent and heavy rainfall the number of properties at risk of flooding is only increasing, alongside growing development pressures and a rise in urban development. Even if your home or business has never flooded, it could still be at risk. Many people do not realise that they live in a flood prone area but there are ways that you can find this out.

What is a Flood Zone?

There are three different Flood Zones which are defined by the Environment Agency: Flood Zone 1, 2, and 3.

Flood Zone 1 (Low Risk): Areas with less than a 1 in 1,000 (0.1%) annual probability of river or sea flooding. This means there’s a low chance of flooding in any given year.

Flood Zone 2 (Medium Risk): Areas with between a 1 in 100 (1%) and 1 in 1,000 (0.1%) annual probability of river flooding, or between a 1 in 200 (0.5%) and 1 in 1,000 (0.1%) annual probability of sea flooding.

Flood Zone 3 (High Risk): Areas with a 1 in 100 (1%) or greater annual probability of river flooding, or a 1 in 200 (0.5%) or greater annual probability of sea flooding.

The Flood Zones are based on the likelihood of an area flooding from rivers or the sea with catchments greater than 3km². Flood Zone 1 areas are least likely to flood and Flood Zone 3 areas more likely to flood.

However, these Flood Zones do not always consider every single river in an area, and do not consider the impacts of blocked drains. Therefore, sites shown to be in Flood Zone 1 can still experience flooding.

More information on Flood Zones can be found here

Why knowing your Flood Zone is important

Flood Zones typically bear more weight in terms of impacting what types of development can take place depending on which Flood Zone the site is situated in. If you are looking to extend your property or make alterations that require planning permission, you may face additional restrictions if your property is within Flood Zone 2 or 3.

It is important to know your Flood Zone as it can have other implications such as planning restrictions, higher insurance premiums or lower the resale value.

Step-by-Step: How to find out if you live in a Flood Zone

1. Go to the Government website Flood Risk Information For Planning: https://flood-map-for-planning.service.gov.uk/ and click “Start Now”
2. You will then be presented with a choice of options. To view a map of the Flood Zones at your property, select the first option “For Planning Purposes or Scoping a Site”, this will then take you to the Flood Map for Planning.
3. Enter either a place or postcode, National Grid Reference (NGR) or Easting and Northing. You can alternatively “skip to map” instead.
4. You will now be presented with a map that shows Flood Zones 2 and 3.

This map also shows other flood risk information such as the impacts on these Flood Zones due to climate change. By selecting “2070 to 2125” instead of “Present Day” you will see where these Flood Zones may extend to in the future based on climate change modelling.

The map also has an option for viewing surface water flood risk. By swapping from Flood Zones to Surface Water you are then able to see where surface water may impact your property for three different annual likelihoods: 1 in 30, 1 in 100, and 1 in 1000.

Additional map features also allow you to view areas used for water storage, flood defence structures and main rivers.

Understanding the Limitations of Flood Maps

As this information is being viewed live online it can be relied upon to be accurate at the time of viewing. However, these Flood Maps are updated periodically based on new information that the Environment Agency collates so the maps may change overtime.

Although these maps present areas most at risk of flooding, floods can still happen outside of these designated areas. Particularly as climate change is increasing the unpredictability of flood events.

What to do if you are in a Flood Zone

There are many things that you can do as a property owner if you are living in a Flood Zone in order to help manage the risk of flooding. A few key things that you can do are:

• Check your home or business insurance covers the event of flooding or look to get specific flood insurance to cover this. The Flood Re scheme can help make insurance more affordable for high-risk properties. Visit their website for more information.
• Elevate utilities and install backflow devices. If you are in a Flood Zone, the risk of sewer flooding may be greater due to the interactions between the sewer system and rivers/ water levels.
• Prepare a Flood Plan. The Government provides further advice on what you can do to prepare for the event of flooding here. Personal Flood Plan & Flood Plan for Business
• Speak to neighbours and your local community to share advice and knowledge about the local flood risk, consider working together to create community preparedness plans and share resources.

How Can We Help

If you are still concerned about the flood risk to your property, FPS Environmental offer property-specific flood surveys where one of our dedicated surveyors will visit your property and investigate the risk of flooding. The survey will look to identify drainage connectivity where accessible, existing flood mitigation measures, measuring door widths and thresholds, and mapping potential routes of ingress. Our Flood Risk Consultants will also conduct background studies into the risk level for the property. This may include reviewing historic mapping, Flood Investigation (Section 19) reports, and other available data. The surveyor will collate a detailed report, examining the risk, and if necessary, any potential risk reduction strategies (along with budget costs).

By better understanding your Flood Zone you can better protect your property, finances and wellbeing. We strongly recommend you take a few minutes to check out the links provided above and get in contact with us if you have any concerns or questions.

Written by Lauren Barraclough, Flood Risk Consultant – BSc (Hons) MCIWEM