Abingdon-on-Thames floods from two directions: the River Thames itself and, more often, the River Ock, which joins the Thames at the edge of the town centre. The Ock reached its highest recorded level of 1.81m on 22 July 2007, when roughly 400 homes and 20 businesses were flooded — the worst event in the town's modern record. A dedicated flood alleviation scheme for the Ock was developed afterwards but shelved when its estimated cost roughly doubled, and the case was revisited following the further widespread flooding of winter 2013/14. Both the Thames and the Ock are gauged by the Environment Agency, and the low-lying streets near the Ock remain the first to be affected.

Abingdon-on-Thames

Appleby sits on a bend of the River Eden, with the low-lying Sands beside the river the most exposed part of the town. Flooding arrives from two directions: the Eden overtopping its right bank and the river wall, and the Doomgate culvert surcharging when river levels are high, pushing water up through manholes on Holme Street and Chapel Street — the more frequent of the two. Storm Desmond on 5–6 December 2015 flooded around 170 properties, with water on The Sands recorded up to 1.8m above ground level, and there were earlier significant floods in 2005 and 2009. Storm Ciara in February 2020 brought the Eden to within about two feet of the 2015 peak, and the Environment Agency is now building a pumping station at Broad Close to reduce Doomgate flood risk for 64 properties.

Appleby-in-Westmorland

Banbury sits on the floodplain of the River Cherwell and has a long flood record. The Easter 1998 flood was the defining event, closing the railway station and causing an estimated £12.5m of damage, with further flooding in July 2007. The Environment Agency completed the £18.5m Banbury Flood Alleviation Scheme in 2012 — a large flood storage area north of the town, with embankments, flow control structures at Hardwick and Huscote and a raised section of the A361 — which now protects 441 homes and 73 commercial properties. That protection is not absolute: during Storm Henk in January 2024 the Cherwell still broke its banks in the town, flooding around the bus station and seriously damaging the Mill Arts Centre.

Banbury

Bewdley stands directly on the River Severn and has flooded repeatedly, including in 2000 and the summer 2007 floods. The demountable barriers at Beales Corner, in use since the early 2000s, were overtopped in February 2020 after Storms Ciara and Dennis in what became the UK's wettest February on record, then overwhelmed again on 22 January 2021 during Storm Christoph, with further flooding in 2022. Those failures prompted a permanent replacement: the Beales Corner Flood Risk Management Scheme, a 300-metre run of flood walls, gates and glass panels, completed by the Environment Agency in September 2025 at a cost of around £10 million. It better protects 50 properties and maintains access to about 160 businesses.

Bewdley

Boston sits on the Haven, the tidal lower reach of the River Witham, a few miles from where it opens into The Wash — placing the town directly on England's east coast surge line. It flooded in the catastrophic North Sea storm surge of 31 January 1953, and again on 5 December 2013, when a severe tidal surge overtopped the Haven's banks and flooded around 800 properties across roughly 55 streets. That event led to the Boston Barrier, a movable tidal gate across the Haven which became fully operational in December 2020 and was closed against a high tide for the first time on 7 November 2021. The barrier now reduces flood risk to more than 13,000 homes and 800 businesses.

Boston

Bridgwater sits on the River Parrett, which is tidal through the town from the Bristol Channel and drains much of the Somerset Levels; the winter 2013-14 floods on the Levels, in the Parrett and Tone catchments, were among the most significant in the area's recent history. A tidal barrier on the Parrett at Bridgwater is being built to reduce tidal flood risk to the town.

Bridgwater

Burton grew up on the River Trent, and its riverside districts of Stapenhill and Winshill have a long flood history: around 9km of walls and embankments were first built after severe flooding in 1932 and have been raised and extended since. Those defences were tested to their limit in November 2000, when Trent levels reached their highest since 1947 but the town's High Street stayed dry. A £30 million upgrade completed in June 2022 now reduces flood risk to more than 4,600 homes and 1,000 businesses across the town. In January 2024 Storm Henk brought the highest water levels ever recorded at Burton, and the government confirmed the new defences protected hundreds of properties.

Burton upon Trent

The Great Stour flows through the centre of Canterbury, while the Little Stour and the Nailbourne, an intermittent chalk stream, can cause groundwater flooding in villages to the south-east of the city. The district's north coast at Whitstable and Herne Bay is exposed to tidal flooding — it was affected by the 1953 North Sea flood — and is now protected by sea defences.

Canterbury

Carlisle sits at the confluence of the Rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril, which makes river flooding the area's main flood risk. The city saw major floods in January 2005 and again in December 2015 during Storm Desmond, when the River Eden reached record levels, and flood defences have been strengthened since.

Carlisle

Chertsey has two distinct flood sources: the Thames, which spills out across Chertsey Meads, and the Chertsey Bourne, a smaller tributary running through the town. The 1947 flood remains the historic benchmark for the Thames here. In February 2014 the river burst its banks again — across Surrey around 1,000 homes were flooded and about 600 properties evacuated, with 368 homes flooded in Runnymede borough alone. During Storm Henk in January 2024 the Bourne overflowed, homes on Eastworth Road flooded and properties in the town were evacuated.

Chertsey

Christchurch sits where the Hampshire Avon and the Dorset Stour converge at Christchurch Harbour before reaching the sea, giving the town both river and tidal flood risk. Low-lying riverside land floods regularly: on 28 January 2026, after Storm Chandra, the Environment Agency issued a rare severe 'danger to life' flood warning for the Lower Stour and residents were evacuated from Iford Bridge Home Park just upstream of the town, with levels forecast to peak at 3.66m — higher than the November 2024 event. BCP Council opened a rest centre at Beaufort Community Centre; the water peaked that evening and residents were able to return home. BCP Council, the unitary authority formed in 2019, is now developing a Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management strategy for Christchurch Bay and Harbour alongside New Forest District Council and the Environment Agency.

Christchurch

Cockermouth grew up around the confluence of the River Cocker and the River Derwent, a setting that makes it one of Cumbria's most flood-prone towns. The statutory flood investigation records 261 properties flooded in January 2005, 537 in the November 2009 floods, and 594 during Storm Desmond on 5–6 December 2015 — the town's worst on record. New defences on Gote Road were completed in November 2010, and the wider £4.4m Cockermouth Flood Risk Management Scheme of embankments, walls and floodgates was completed in spring 2013, but Storm Desmond's 36 hours of intense rain overtopped and outflanked them. In 2015 the damage came mainly from the Derwent, which reached its highest recorded flow, while the Cocker peaked around half a metre below its 2009 level.

Cockermouth

Datchet has flooded for as long as records exist: village documents note 'great floods' in 1774, 1809, 1822, 1852, 1894 and 1947, long before the events in living memory. In February 2014 the Thames burst its banks and flooded properties across Slough Road, Eton Road, Horton Road, Southlea Road and Datchet Common — the same streets named in the Environment Agency's 'River Thames at Datchet' flood warning area — and closed the railway line linking Windsor with Staines for more than a week. In 2020 the section of the River Thames Scheme that would have protected Datchet and Wraysbury was removed after the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead judged its funding contribution unaffordable. Datchet, Horton, Wraysbury and Old Windsor were inundated again during Storm Henk in January 2024.

Datchet

Much of the Doncaster district is low-lying land drained by the River Don and its tributaries, including the Torne, Went, Ea Beck and Dearne. The area saw significant flooding in June 2007 and again in November 2019, when the Don reached record levels and villages including Fishlake and Bentley were flooded.

Doncaster

Exeter sits on the River Exe, which is tidal in its lower reaches around Countess Wear and Topsham on the Exe Estuary. Severe flooding in October and December 1960 affected more than 1,000 properties and led to the city's flood defence scheme, which the Environment Agency substantially upgraded between 2014 and 2021.

Exeter

Gloucester sits on the River Severn, which divides into two channels around Alney Island as it passes the city, and river levels here are influenced by both heavy rainfall upstream and high tides in the Severn Estuary. The city was significantly affected by the July 2007 floods, when floodwater came close to overwhelming the Walham electricity substation on the city's edge.

Gloucester

Guildford town centre sits at a natural narrowing of the River Wey and has seen notable floods in 1968, 2000 and the winter of 2013–14, and the Environment Agency is progressing a flood alleviation scheme for the town. Elsewhere in the borough, the Tillingbourne and, around Ash, the River Blackwater are the main watercourses associated with flood risk.

Guildford

Hebden Bridge sits at the confluence of Hebden Water and the River Calder, at the outlet of a steep-sided, fast-responding Pennine catchment that makes it one of the Calder Valley's most flood-prone towns. Flash flooding on 22 June 2012 put the Calder at a then-record 3.2 metres in the town after more than 100mm of rain fell in a matter of hours. That record was broken on Boxing Day 2015, when Storm Eva sent the Calder to 3.63 metres at the end of an exceptionally wet December, flooding over 2,000 homes and around 1,500 businesses across Calderdale. Storm Ciara in February 2020 produced the second-highest level on record and affected around 1,200 homes and businesses, and Storm Bert in November 2024 closed the A646 and set the town's flood sirens sounding again.

Hebden Bridge

Hull sits on low-lying land where the River Hull meets the Humber Estuary, so the city faces both tidal and surface-water flood risk, managed in part by the Hull Tidal Surge Barrier. The city was among the worst affected in the June 2007 floods, and the December 2013 North Sea tidal surge also brought flooding along the Humber.

Hull

Kendal grew up on the River Kent, joined just upstream of the town by the Mint and the Sprint, and it has flooded repeatedly this century — around 11 properties in February 2004, over 100 in January 2005, and a smaller event in November 2009. The worst on record came with Storm Desmond on 5–6 December 2015, when flows on the Kent and its tributaries through Kendal were the highest ever recorded and around 2,276 properties and businesses were affected across Kendal, Burneside, Staveley and Ings. Storm Ciara brought further flooding to Kendal in February 2020. The Environment Agency's Kendal Flood Risk Management Scheme, the first phase of a wider Kent catchment programme, has built over 6km of walls and embankments with 14 flood gates, running from Mintsfeet at the north end of the town to Helsington Mills at the south.

Kendal

Keswick sits where the River Greta runs down to meet the River Derwent just north of Derwentwater, and the Greta — along with becks culverted beneath the town — drives most of the local flood risk. The statutory flood investigation for the town records 198 properties flooded in 2005 and 320 in November 2009, around 200 of them from the Greta. The Keswick Flood Risk Management Scheme was built in 2011/12 at a cost of over £6m, adding walls and embankments at High Hill, Crosthwaite Road, Penrith Road and Elliott Park and reducing Greta flood risk for about 182 properties, but Storm Desmond on 5–6 December 2015 was a larger event than the defences were designed for and they were overtopped and outflanked, affecting 515 homes and businesses. Storm Ciara brought further flooding to Keswick in February 2020.

Keswick

The district is drained by the River Lune, joined by the smaller Conder and Keer, and has tidal exposure along Morecambe Bay and the Lune estuary. During Storm Desmond in December 2015 the Lune overtopped its banks in Lancaster and flooded an electricity substation, leaving around 61,000 properties without power for several days.

Lancaster

Leeds sits on the River Aire, which flows through the city centre, while the River Wharfe crosses the north of the district through Otley and Wetherby. The Boxing Day 2015 floods brought by Storm Eva affected several thousand homes and businesses along the Aire, and the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme has since strengthened the city's river defences.

Leeds

The district is drained by the River Ouse, which flows through Lewes to the sea at Newhaven; in October 2000 the river burst its banks after prolonged rain, flooding over 600 homes and around 300 businesses in Lewes. Coastal towns in the district, including Newhaven and Seaford, are also exposed to tidal and coastal flood risk.

Lewes

The River Medway flows through Maidstone town centre, and the borough includes Yalding, where the Medway is joined by the Beult and Teise — a confluence with a long-recorded flood history. In the Christmas 2013 storms the Medway and its tributaries flooded several hundred homes and businesses across the catchment, including properties in Maidstone and Yalding.

Maidstone

Newark sits where the River Devon joins the River Trent, giving it two distinct flood sources: the slower-rising Trent along riverside areas such as Tolney Lane, and the smaller, faster-responding Devon along Farndon Road on the town's southern side. During Storm Babet on 20 October 2023, 124mm of rain fell in under three days at the nearby Staythorpe gauge; the Devon burst its banks and 15 homes and two businesses were flooded internally, with Farndon Road worst affected. Storm Henk followed in January 2024, when the Trent reached a record peak north of Newark, surpassing the previous high set in November 2000. Nottinghamshire County Council has published formal Section 19 flood investigations into both events.

Newark-on-Trent

Norwich sits on the River Wensum, which winds through the city centre and joins the River Yare just south-east of the city, and parts of the riverside are also affected by surface water flooding. The city's most significant recorded flood was in August 1912, when prolonged heavy rain caused the Wensum to burst its banks and flood over 3,500 homes.

Norwich

Nottingham's benchmark flood remains March 1947, when snowmelt and heavy rain sent the River Trent over its banks across the city and its suburbs, damaging around 3,000 properties, 86 factories and some 28 miles of road. That event prompted the defences that still line the river today, substantially upgraded by the £45 million Nottingham Left Bank scheme completed in 2012, which reduces flood risk to roughly 16,000 homes and businesses along a 27km stretch of the Trent from Sawley to Colwick. The most recent serious test came in January 2024, when Storm Henk pushed the Trent to near-record levels and a major incident was declared across Nottinghamshire, with 344 homes and 40 businesses flooded county-wide. The city's own defences held.

Nottingham

Oxford sits at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Cherwell, and low-lying areas in the west of the city — including Osney, Botley Road and New Hinksey — have flooded in past events, notably in July 2007 and the winter of 2013–14. The Environment Agency issues flood warnings for the Thames and Cherwell in Oxford, and the city council deploys temporary defences when river levels rise.

Oxford

Peterborough sits on the River Nene at the western edge of the Fens, and much of the low-lying eastern part of the district depends on managed drainage, with the Nene Washes used to store flood water when river levels are high. The Nene becomes tidal at the Dog-in-a-Doublet sluice downstream of the city, and surface water flooding is also a recognised risk across the district.

Peterborough

Reading sits at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Kennet, and low-lying areas such as Lower Caversham and the Caversham Road area are covered by Environment Agency flood warning areas for both rivers. Homes and businesses near the rivers flooded during the Thames Valley floods of 2003 and February 2014, and heavy rain following Storm Henk caused further flooding in January 2024.

Reading

Selby stands on the tidal River Ouse — the tidal limit is at Naburn Weir upstream, so levels through the town are driven by river flow and tide together — on flat, low-lying ground that has flooded repeatedly through its history, with major floods recorded in 1794, 1866, 1947, 1982 and 2000. The autumn 2000 floods were the worst in generations: the Ouse rose higher than at any point since 1625, defences were overtopped at Selby and Barlby and around 300 properties flooded, with local drainage problems flooding a further 60 in the town. At Barlby the river stood about a foot above the defences and sandbags were all that held it back; had they failed, some 7,500 properties in Barlby and Selby were at risk. A £1.5m upgrade to the defences followed immediately, and the multi-phase Selby flood alleviation scheme of raised embankments and walls running from Barlby through Selby was completed in 2008.

Selby

Shrewsbury town centre sits within a tight loop of the River Severn, with the Rea Brook joining the river in the town. The area saw significant flooding in autumn 2000 and again in February 2020 during Storms Ciara and Dennis, when the Severn reached some of its highest recorded levels at Welsh Bridge.

Shrewsbury

Staines-upon-Thames sits where the River Ash and the wider Colne system meet the Thames, and flooding here usually results from the two interacting: when the Thames runs high, water backs up behind it. In February 2014 — the wettest winter on record, with the Thames at its highest flows since 1974 — the Ash alone flooded at least 80 homes and their grounds in Staines, and the Thames Water-owned Staines Aqueduct briefly overtopped as the Colne distributaries struggled to discharge. Across Surrey that winter roughly 1,000 homes were flooded and about 600 properties evacuated. The Environment Agency's River Thames Scheme, now scoped as two channel sections totalling about 8.5km — Egham Hythe to Chertsey, and Laleham to above Desborough Cut — is designed to lower flood levels through this reach.

Staines-upon-Thames

Taunton sits on the River Tone, fed by the Galmington, Sherford and Mill streams, whose combined runoff has twice brought the town close to flooding — in 2000 and again in 2012. The worst flood on record was in 1960, when more than 360 homes, shops and business premises went under water; in response the Tone through the town was re-modelled and its defences reinforced in the 1980s. Somerset's 20 Year Flood Action Plan, drawn up in 2014 after the Somerset Levels floods of winter 2013/14, set out the Taunton Strategic Flood Alleviation Improvements Scheme. Delivered jointly by Somerset Council and the Environment Agency, it combines optimised flood storage at Longrun Meadow with repaired and raised defences from Frieze Hill through Town Bridge to Firepool, reducing flood risk to around 1,414 properties.

Taunton

Tewkesbury sits at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and low-lying parts of the borough are affected when both rivers rise at the same time. In the widely reported July 2007 floods, water surrounded Tewkesbury Abbey and inundated the Mythe water treatment works, cutting mains water supplies across much of Gloucestershire.

Tewkesbury

Tonbridge sits on the River Medway and flooded badly in September 1968, when a wall of water swept into the High Street and Cannon Street bridge collapsed. That event led to the Leigh Flood Storage Area, built upstream and completed in 1981, which held the town largely dry during the October 2000 floods that overwhelmed much of the surrounding Medway valley. In the winter 2013/14 storms the storage area protected 938 Tonbridge homes, but the event exceeded its design capacity and more than 900 homes and businesses flooded across Tonbridge, Maidstone, Yalding and East Peckham. A £36m expansion of the Leigh scheme, with new embankments at Hildenborough, has been under construction since spring 2023 and is due to be fully operational by autumn 2026, reducing flood risk to over 1,800 homes and 575 non-residential properties.

Tonbridge

Truro sits in a natural bowl where the Kenwyn and Allen rivers meet to form the tidal Truro River, so heavy rainfall and high tides can compound each other through the city centre. The defining events were the floods of 1988, which struck twice — in January and again in October — leaving around four feet of water through shops in the centre and requiring dinghy rescues from upper floors. A flood alleviation programme designed in the early 1990s followed: storage dams at New Mills on the Kenwyn and Idless on the Allen, plus tidal gates at Newham. Those gates reached the end of their serviceable life and were replaced with new ones lifted into place by a 400-tonne crane in August 2024, fully operational from October 2025 and protecting 185 properties for a further 30 years.

Truro

Uckfield floods roughly once a decade — recorded events include 1962, 1974, 1989, 1994, 2000 and 2007 — but 12 October 2000 remains the benchmark. After three days of heavy rain the River Uck rose from around 5am and peaked between 9am and 10am, sending a torrent up to 1.9m deep through the town centre; police abandoned the centre and the RNLI used inflatable boats to reach people trapped in shops and homes. The high street and the Bellbrook industrial estate, built on the river's natural floodplain, took the worst of it. Supermarket car parks in the town have since been rebuilt with flood walls and watertight pedestrian gates designed to hold water back until it recedes, and tree planting upstream has been used to slow runoff, though a full town-centre alleviation scheme has taken years to agree.

Uckfield

Upton-upon-Severn has a long-standing reputation as one of the most frequently flooded towns in Britain: Environment Agency records show it has flooded around 78 times since 1970, more than 70 of those within the last 40 years. The town centre was badly hit in 2000 and again in the summer 2007 floods, when rising water cut it off and effectively turned it into an island. A two-phase flood alleviation scheme costing roughly £4.5 million followed, combining an earth embankment, flood walls with glass panels and floodgates across the New Street and Waterside areas, completed in 2012. Those permanent defences have held through subsequent Severn events, including the record-wet February of 2020.

Upton-upon-Severn

Windsor and Eton sit on a stretch of the Thames with a long flood record, including 1947, 2003 and, most seriously in recent decades, February 2014. Since 2002 the two towns have been largely protected by the Jubilee River, an 11.6km relief channel that diverts up to around 180 cubic metres per second from the Thames above Maidenhead and rejoins it near Datchet, reducing risk to roughly 3,000 properties in Maidenhead, Windsor, Eton and Cookham. Its effect on communities further downstream has been contested since it first operated during the 2003 floods and remains the subject of ongoing study. In 2020 the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead withdrew from the £640m River Thames Scheme, judging its share unaffordable, which removed the channel section that would have protected Datchet and Wraysbury.

Windsor

Worcester sits on the River Severn, with the River Teme joining just south of the city, and low-lying riverside areas flood periodically when water drains down from Wales and Shropshire after prolonged rain. The city was notably affected in the summer 2007 floods and again in February 2020, when the Severn reached some of its highest recorded levels locally.

Worcester

Yalding sits at the confluence of the Medway, Beult and Teise — three rivers meeting at one village — which makes it one of the most flood-exposed settlements in Kent. It flooded in 1968 and in October 2000, and worst in recent memory over Christmas 2013, when more than 200 homes went under water. An Environment Agency assessment in 2016 concluded that new flood storage reservoirs on the Beult and Teise would cost a great deal without delivering the benefits originally envisaged, and they were dropped in favour of expanding the Leigh storage area upstream. The local response since has centred on property-level resilience — raised electrics, relocated boilers and door and window barriers for around 300 homes across Yalding, Collier Street and Laddingford.

Yalding

York sits at the confluence of the River Ouse and River Foss, and the Ouse carries water from a large upstream catchment in the Yorkshire Dales, so river levels in the city can rise for a day or more after heavy rain falls upstream. The city has a long history of river flooding, including the widely-reported floods of autumn 2000 and December 2015, and is protected in part by the Foss Barrier and ongoing Environment Agency defence upgrades.

Flood risk, by area