How to check if your home is at risk of flooding

The government has launched Flood Action Week and asked people to prepare their homes for the risk of flooding.

RETRANSMITTING NAME CORRECTED TO Jon Neighbours help to clear flood water from the home of Jon Sayles in Grendon, Northamptonshire. An amber weather warning for heavy rain has come into force in parts of England, with the Met Office warning that affected areas could experience more than a month's worth of rain falling on Monday. Picture date: Monday September 23, 2024. (Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
People can check online if their area is at risk of flooding. (PA)

The government has warned people to prepare for the risk of their homes being flooded.

The Environment Agency launched Flood Action Week on Monday, which runs until Saturday, a year after the devastating effects of Storm Babet were felt across the country, as well as the flooding in recent weeks.

The Environment Agency said about 5.5 million properties in England are at risk of flooding, and urged people to use their online tool to check if their area is affected.

It comes after a report last week found that planning permission has been granted for more than 7,000 homes in the areas of England which are at the highest risk of flooding.

Swans swim along the A1101 at Welney in Norfolk which is submerged by flooding, leaving locals facing a 22 mile diversion. Thunderstorms and heavy rain may cause travel disruption across parts of southern England and Wales, after a yellow thunderstorm warning was issued by the Met Office from Monday afternoon across much of South Wales, South West England, and parts of southern England. Picture date: Monday October 7, 2024.
Swans swim along the A1101 at Welney in Norfolk which was submerged by flooding in October. (PA)

Caroline Douglass, executive director of flood and coastal risk management for the Environment Agency, said: “Climate change means extreme weather events are happening more frequently, and we have already seen an unusually wet September this year.

“We can’t always predict where the rain will fall or where flooding will occur, but we do know which areas are at risk.

“That is why it is essential we all do our part by checking our flood risk and signing up for flood warnings this Flood Action Week.”

People in England can use a free online service to check the long-term flood risk in their area.

They can go to www.gov.uk/check-long-term-flood-risk to do this, and must then enter their postcode.

(Environment Agency)
People can check the long-term risk of flooding in their area. (Environment Agency)
(Environment Agency)
After entering their postcode, they will be asked to select an address. (Environment Agency)

The service allows them to find out the long-term flood risk for an area, the possible causes of flooding, how to manage the flood risk, and whether the long-term flood risk is from rivers and the sea, surface water, reservoirs or groundwater.

The tool will offer a yearly chance of flooding from surface water or flash flooding, ranging through four categories from very low through to low, medium and high.

The same rundown is also available for the risk of flooding from rivers and the sea. For the risk of flooding from groundwater and reservoirs, the service will say if this is likely or unlikely.

(Environment Agency)
They will then be given a rundown of the flood risk. (Environment Agency)

There are separate flood risk checking services for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

However, the services cannot say how likely it is that an individual property will flood or give details about flood risk from sources such as blocked drains and burst pipes.

The Environment Agency advised people to sign up for flood warnings, a free service where they can choose to receive up to date flooding information by phone call, text or email.

It also says people can make a number of changes to their home before a flood happens to reduce the damage.

A man bails out his home after a brook burst its banks in Sileby, near Leicester in central England on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP) (Photo by DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images)
A man emptying floodwater from his home after a brook burst its banks in Sileby, near Leicester. (AFP via Getty Images)

These include laying tiles instead of carpets; moving electrical sockets higher up walls; fitting non-return valves to stop flood water entering through drains and using flood protection products such as flood doors or self-closing air bricks

It said homeowners should also make sure they know how to turn off their gas, electricity and water supply if they have to leave during a flood.

The water can be turned off at the water stop tap - or stopcock - usually found inside the home where the water supply comes in.

File photo dated 30/09/24 of a flood sign on Dovedale Road in Liverpool. Met Office and Environment Agency are urging people to take action to check their flood risk, saying that UK is not
A flood sign on Dovedale Road in Liverpool at the end of September. (PA)

The gas shut-off valve is next to the gas meter and the mains electricity switch is found on the fuse board.

The Met Office advises people to prepare a flood plan, which involves keeping a list of useful contact numbers such as your local council, your insurance company and utility providers.

It also says people should have a flood kit, containing insurance documents, a torch, a first aid kit, any prescription medicines and warm waterproof clothes and blankets.