Does BL5 flood?

Yes — parts of the BL5 district carry real flood risk: 1 of its 3 at-risk postcodes reach the Environment Agency's High likelihood band. The BL5 postcode district covers Hulton, Westhoughton South, close to Atherton, Tyldesley, Leigh, and surrounding villages in parts of Greater Manchester and Warrington.

3 postcodes in the BL5 district appear in the Environment Agency's rivers-and-sea flood-risk dataset — worst bands: 1 high, 1 medium, 1 low. A postcode not listed here has no properties in any recorded risk band (which is good news, but never proof it cannot flood).

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Which BL5 postcodes are at risk?

BL5 1FQ up to High BL5 2JP up to Medium BL5 1FH up to Low

Rivers and flooding history near BL5

The rivers that matter here, each monitored live on FloodRadar:

Atherton Woodland Drive on the Carr Brook — 0.4 km away, highest on record 0.82m
Atherton Shakerley Road on the Shakerley Brook — 2.1 km away, highest on record 1.73m
Howe Bridge on the Atherton Lake Brook — 3.3 km away, highest on record 1.18m
Size Bridge, Tyldesley on the Ellenor Brook — 3.9 km away, highest on record 1.47m

95 official flood warnings and alerts have been raised within ~10 km of the district's centre since 2006 (57 at warning level or above), most recently 20 September 2025. Warnings cover flood areas, not individual addresses.

Recorded flood extents near the district (Environment Agency record):

Wigan Leigh - NYE/NYD 25 (2024) — about 4.2 km from the centre
Wigan Atherton - NYE/NYD 25 (2024) — about 2.2 km from the centre
3, 3a, 5 & 7 Castle Street M29 8PF (2024) — about 2.2 km from the centre
Lilford Park (2015) — about 4.1 km from the centre

🏠 Buying or renting in BL5? The full property flood-risk report covers any postcode here — the official likelihood band, every recorded flood nearby with distances, warning history year by year, how the local rivers behave, and an insurance outlook, print-ready for £19. See what's in the report →

Flood risk in nearby postcode districts

BL4 BL6 BL3 BL7 BL2 BL8 BL1 BL9

Band = the worst likelihood band of any property in that postcode (EA Risk of Flooding from Rivers & Sea, defence-adjusted, area-level). Check any postcode in detail — or get the full £19 property report — at the property flood-risk report. © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2025. All rights reserved. Some features of this map are based on digital spatial data from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, © NERC (CEH). © Crown Copyright and Database Rights 2025 OS AC0000807064. This product is produced in part from PAF® and Multiple Residence Data, the copyright in which is owned by Royal Mail Group Limited and/or Royal Mail Group plc. All rights reserved. Licence number AC0000807064.