Does CO3 flood?

Yes — parts of the CO3 district carry real flood risk: 8 of its 18 at-risk postcodes reach the Environment Agency's High likelihood band. The CO3 postcode district covers Lexden and Braiswick, Castle, Marks Tey and Layer, Stanway, close to Beacon End, Wivenhoe, Bures, and surrounding villages in parts of Essex and Suffolk.

18 postcodes in the CO3 district appear in the Environment Agency's rivers-and-sea flood-risk dataset — worst bands: 8 high, 5 medium, 4 low, 1 very 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 CO3 postcodes are at risk?

CO3 3WG up to High CO3 4AR up to High CO3 8LU up to High CO3 8NB up to High CO3 9SX up to High CO3 9TB up to High CO3 9TF up to High CO3 9TZ up to High CO3 3LD up to Medium CO3 3LP up to Medium CO3 8NA up to Medium CO3 8ND up to Medium CO3 9SY up to Medium CO3 0SL up to Low CO3 3LG up to Low CO3 3LJ up to Low CO3 3XL up to Low CO3 4AZ up to Very low

Rivers and flooding history near CO3

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

Lexden on the River Colne — 0.7 km away, highest on record 2.38m
BOUNSTEAD BRIDGE FGS COLCHESTER — 5.4 km away
Bures Bridge on the River Stour — 10.3 km away, highest on record 2.05m
Langham on the River Stour — 10.6 km away, highest on record 2.03m

73 official flood warnings and alerts have been raised within ~10 km of the district's centre since 2006 (13 at warning level or above), most recently 17 February 2026. Warnings cover flood areas, not individual addresses.

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

2013 Flood Outline (2013) — about 56.4 km from the centre
2009 Flood Outline (2009) — about 14.5 km from the centre
2001 Flood Outline (2001) — about 17 km from the centre
1968 September Flood Outline (1968) — about 20.9 km from the centre

Records, not floods: no outline on the record is not evidence a place has not flooded.

🏠 Buying or renting in CO3? 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

CO2 CO4 CO1 CO5 CO6 CO7 CO8 CO9

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.