Does CO8 5AP flood?

Up to High likelihood

Properties in CO8 5AP sit in the Environment Agency's High flood-likelihood band (worst property). The band is the worst found in the postcode — it describes the land around properties (defence-adjusted, rivers & sea), not any single address, and not today's conditions.

Likelihood bandAnnual chancePropertiesOf which homes
Highgreater than 3.3%11
Medium1% – 3.3%00
Low0.1% – 1%00
Very lowbelow 0.1%00

Over a 25-year mortgage, a property in a high-likelihood area has at least a 57% chance of flooding at least once.

How much rain falls on CO8 5AP

CO8 5AP gets about 618 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month August, 64 mm; driest March, 37 mm). That is 47% drier than the UK as a whole, which averages 1,163 mm a year.

A thirty-year average for the surrounding area, not a measurement at this address and not a flood risk on its own: a dry area floods when a storm sits over it, and a wet one may drain away perfectly well. Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 (5 km grid), 2.3 km away. Average rainfall: HadUK-Grid v1.3.2, Met Office. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The watercourse nearest CO8 5AP

The nearest watercourse on the river map is Cambridge Brook, about 280 m from the centre of CO8 5AP. It flows into the River Stour about 1.6 km downstream.

A gauge downstream shows water that has already passed this point; one upstream sees it first. Distances along the river are from the point on Cambridge Brook nearest the centre of CO8 5AP. From Ordnance Survey’s river map (OS Open Rivers), which leaves out small streams, ditches and culverts, so a nearer one may exist. This describes where water goes on the map; it says nothing about flooding at any address. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

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Get the full flood report for CO8 5AP — £19 Free preview first · instant access · no account needed The detail below — flood history, warnings, rivers, overflows — is part of FloodRadar's property flood-risk report. The official band above is free; the preview shows more before you decide.

Inside the full report for CO8 5AP

FloodRadarProperty Flood-Risk Report
CO8 5AP
Elevated flood risk — professional assessment recommended

Because properties in the high likelihood band; 6 recorded flood outlines mapped nearby; 157 official warnings since 2006.

E Today — indicative grade (A best → E)
··· By the 2050s — EA climate scenario (in the full report)
⚑ Official warning within 10 km: Yes ⚑ Recorded flood outline within ~1 km: Yes ⚑ Flood defence mapped within 500 m: None mapped ⚑ In flood zone 2 or 3: ···
Rivers & sea
Up to High
Surface water
···
Groundwater
Not assessed
Historic flooding
Recorded nearby
Warning history · flood map with building picker · 2050s view · insurance outlook · every dataset receipt — 18 sections

Flood-risk map of this area

Environment Agency flood-likelihood cells
High (>3.3%/yr) Medium Low Very low Marker = postcode centre Base map © OpenStreetMap contributors

The map above shows the real EA rivers & sea likelihood cells around CO8 5AP. The small panels are illustrative previews of the report's per-layer map views — the full report draws each layer for real, plus recorded extents, defences and a building picker on an interactive map.

Official flood warnings near CO8 5AP

157
flood alerts & warnings within 10 km since 2007
11
of them full flood warnings or severe warnings
2026
most recent warning nearby (2026-02-17)

Warnings cover flood areas, not individual addresses.

Recorded flood outlines near this postcode

DateMapped flood extentApprox. distance
Dec 2013 2013 Flood Outline ~54.6 km
Jan 2009 2009 Flood Outline ~13.9 km
Oct 2001 2001 Flood Outline ~11.4 km
Jan 1968 1968 September Flood Outline ~12.3 km
Jan 1953 1953 Coast Flood Outline Essex ~28.0 km
Feb 1947 1947 Flood Outline ~18.6 km

These are extents the Environment Agency has mapped, not a list of every flood. Records, not floods: no outline on the record is not evidence a place has not flooded. The full report tests whether any extent covered the exact spot.

The rivers that matter for CO8 5AP

GaugeRiverDistanceTypical highHighest on record
Bures Bridge River Stour 1.9 km 1.43 m 2.05 m
Lamarsh River Stour 3.4 km 1.65 m 2.52 m
Earls Colne River Colne 5.1 km 1.14 m 2.16 m
EARLS COLNE FGS — 5.1 km — —

Live levels, predictions and rain-response behaviour are on each gauge's page and in the property report.

Storm overflows within 5 km

OverflowDischarges intoDistanceSpillsHours
Bures Hamlet Ps River Stour 1.9 km 1 (2024) 2
Earls Colne Water Recycling Centre River Colne Nt 4.7 km 38 (2024) 648
Earls Colne River Colne 4.7 km 2 (2024) 0
Earls Colne St Andrews Church Cso Tributary Of River Colne 5.0 km 8 (2024) 2

Official annual EDM figures — a water-quality signal for local watercourses, not a property flood-risk factor.

Flood defences

No mapped flood-defence assets within 500 m of the postcode centre. Defences reduce risk, never remove it.

What the full property report adds

The interactive flood-risk map with a building picker (your exact house, not the postcode), the 2050s climate view, surface-water and planning flood zones at your building, exact recorded-flood distances, year-by-year warning charts, watercourses including culverted streams, an insurance outlook with the Flood Re rules, and a printable document with every dataset receipt — start with the free preview, unlock for £19.

Flood risk at nearby postcodes

At-risk postcodes near CO8 5AP — all in the CO8 district.

© 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. Recorded Flood Outlines and warning history © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2025. Storm-overflow figures: EA Event Duration Monitoring (England); live overflow status © the water companies, incl. Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and Scottish Water. Flood defences © Environment Agency (OGL v3). This page summarises public area-level data — it is not a flood-risk survey and not a substitute for the official GOV.UK service. All data sources & licences. More postcodes: the CO8 district.