Does Brighton flood?

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

Ordnance Survey places 30 postcodes in Brighton 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 959 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 Brighton

Environment Agency gauges within 10 km of Brighton watch Winterbourne Stream.

• Bell Lane Grill
  Winterbourne Stream · 9.5 km away 4.58 mAOD
  below normal · falling · 51 min ago

Distances are from the middle of Brighton'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 Brighton

7 Environment Agency flood warning areas lie within 10 km of Brighton. The EA has issued 29 flood warnings and alerts for them since 2006, most recently on 9 Mar 2026.

• Coastal areas of Brighton Marina Village including the Strand
  no warning on record since 2006 0.1 km
• Coastal areas of Brighton Marina Village including the Strand
  2 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Nov 2013 0.1 km
• Areas at risk of groundwater flooding in Patcham including Old London Road, parts of Church Hill and Mill Road where they meet the A23 and the Recreation Ground
  24 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Mar 2026 6.8 km
• Areas at risk of groundwater flooding in Patcham including Old London Road, parts of Church Hill and Mill Road where they meet the A23 and the Recreation Ground
  1 warning or alert since 2006, latest Feb 2014 6.8 km
• Winterbourne Stream in the Southover area of Lewes
  2 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Feb 2014 8.9 km
• Sussex River Ouse at Piddinghoe, South Heighton and Southease, including northernmost properties on The Street, Rodmell
  no warning on record since 2006 9.5 km
• Winterbourne Stream in the Southover area of Lewes from the railway embankment at Winterbourne Close to Lewes Station on Station Road
  no warning on record since 2006 10.0 km

Recorded floods near Brighton

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

• 5 Mar 2014 — Winter 13/14 East Hampshire Aerial Photography Other
• 11 Oct 1987 — 07421NoRefFEO_Oct1987_Brighton Drainage

Rainfall near Brighton

Brighton gets about 763 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month November, 100 mm; driest April, 43 mm). That is 34% drier than the UK as a whole, which averages 1,163 mm a year. Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 (5 km grid), 1.5 km from the place centre.

The nearest rain gauge, Rainfall station (5.1 km away), recorded 2.9 mm in the last 24 hours and 77.4 mm in the last 7 days (latest reading 51 min ago).

At-risk postcodes in Brighton

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

High likelihood (30)

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.