Does Bicester flood?

What the Environment Agency's rivers-and-sea flood-risk data says about Bicester

Ordnance Survey places 34 postcodes in Bicester in the Environment Agency's rivers-and-sea flood-risk dataset (Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea). Each postcode is counted once, under the worst band any of its properties reaches; together they hold 289 properties in the EA dataset's likelihood bands.

This dataset covers flooding from rivers and the sea only — one of five flood sources. Surface water, groundwater, sewers and reservoirs are assessed separately, so a postcode missing from it is not proof that a place cannot flood. The band describes the land around properties (allowing for defences), not any single address and not today's conditions.

Rivers and live river levels near Bicester

Environment Agency gauges within 10 km of Bicester watch Langford Brook, Wendlebury Brook, River Ray.

• Langford Village
  Langford Brook · 1.2 km away 0.42 m
  normal range · falling · 25 min ago
• Wendlebury
  Wendlebury Brook · 3.5 km away 1.13 m
  normal range · 25 min ago
• Lower Arncott
  River Ray · 4.8 km away 0.77 m
  normal range · 25 min ago
• Grendon Underwood Structure
  River Ray · 9.7 km away 0.07 m
  controlled by a sluice or weir · 25 min ago

Distances are from the middle of Bicester's at-risk postcodes. Tidal and structure gauges are shown as readings only — the tide and sluice gates move them, not floods. A gauge with no recent reading shows no level.

Flood warning areas near Bicester

6 Environment Agency flood warning areas lie within 10 km of Bicester. The EA has issued 173 flood warnings and alerts for them since 2006, most recently on 7 Mar 2026.

• The Bure and Back Brook north of Bicester Village at Hanover Gardens, the Causeway and Priory Lane
  1 warning or alert since 2006, latest Sep 2024 0.5 km
• Langford and Wendlebury Brooks and their tributaries from Stratton Audley down to the M40 near Merton, including Bicester and Wendlebury
  69 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Jan 2026 3.8 km
• Areas of Bicester including Langford Village and the Launton Road Industrial Estate, on the Langford Brook, down to the confluence with the River Ray
  no warning on record since 2006 4.0 km
• Wendlebury village on the Wendlebury Brook, South East of the A41 to the confluence with the Langford Brook
  5 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Nov 2024 4.2 km
• River Ray and its tributaries from Shipton Lee to Islip, including Ludgershall, Blackthorn and Murcott
  85 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Mar 2026 5.5 km
• River Ray from the Heath Bridge area to and including the Otmoor Basin
  13 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Feb 2026 5.9 km

Recorded floods near Bicester

Floods whose mapped extent (EA Recorded Flood Outlines) reached within ~5 km of Bicester, most recent first. Records, not floods: no outline on the record is not evidence a place has not flooded. See them on the map →

• 3 Jun 2008 — Wendlebury_Fluvial Main river
• 1 Jan 1993 — 06OctoberAutumn1993 Main river
• 1 Jan 1992 — 06SeptemberAutumn1992 Main river

Rainfall near Bicester

Bicester gets about 672 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month October, 71 mm; driest March, 43 mm). That is 42% drier than the UK as a whole, which averages 1,163 mm a year. Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 (5 km grid), 0.8 km from the place centre.

The nearest rain gauge, Rainfall station (1.3 km away), recorded 5.8 mm in the last 24 hours and 78.0 mm in the last 7 days (latest reading 25 min ago).

At-risk postcodes in Bicester

Every postcode Ordnance Survey places in Bicester that appears in the EA's rivers-and-sea dataset, worst band first. Each links to its own flood-risk page.

High likelihood (14)

Medium likelihood (7)

Low likelihood (13)

Postcode districts

Sources

FloodRadar summarises public flood data. It is not a flood-risk survey of any property, and it does not replace official GOV.UK flood warnings or the GOV.UK long-term flood risk service.