Does Chelsea flood?

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

Ordnance Survey places 57 postcodes in Chelsea 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 931 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 Chelsea

Environment Agency gauges within 10 km of Chelsea watch Thames Tideway, Beverley Brook, River Wandle, River Graveney.

• Westminster Tidal
  Thames Tideway · 3.6 km away -0.61 mAOD
  rises and falls with the tide · 38 min ago
• Barnes
  Beverley Brook · 5.6 km away 1.44 m
  normal range · 38 min ago
• Summerstown
  River Wandle · 6.3 km away 1.05 m
  normal range · 38 min ago
• Tower Pier Tidal
  Thames Tideway · 6.6 km away -1.13 mAOD
  rises and falls with the tide · 38 min ago
• Longley Road Structure
  River Graveney · 6.9 km away 0.12 m
  controlled by a sluice or weir · 38 min ago
• Wandle Park Main Channel
  River Wandle · 7.2 km away 0.32 m
  normal range · just past its peak · 38 min ago
• Wandle Park Side Channel
  River Wandle · 7.2 km away 0.34 m
  normal range · just past its peak · 38 min ago
• Abercairn Road
  River Graveney · 7.7 km away 0.93 m
  normal range · 38 min ago
• Wimbledon Common
  Beverley Brook · 8.3 km away 0.22 m
  normal range · just past its peak · 38 min ago
• New Malden
  Beverley Brook · 9.8 km away 0.78 m
  normal range · just past its peak · 38 min ago

Distances are from the middle of Chelsea'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 Chelsea

42 Environment Agency flood warning areas lie within 10 km of Chelsea. The EA has issued 1,150 flood warnings and alerts for them since 2006, most recently on 26 Oct 2026.

• River Thames from Battersea Power Station to Battersea Bridge including Battersea
  no warning on record since 2006 1.4 km
• River Thames from Vauxhall Bridge to Battersea Bridge including Pimlico, Belgravia and Chelsea Embankment
  no warning on record since 2006 1.4 km
• River Thames from Battersea Bridge to Wandsworth Bridge including west Battersea, Clapham Junction and east Wandsworth
  no warning on record since 2006 1.5 km
• River Thames from Battersea Bridge to Putney Bridge including Chelsea Harbour, Sands End, south Parsons Green and Hurlingham Park
  no warning on record since 2006 2.2 km
• River Thames at Westminster including St James's Park, Victoria and Westminster Cathedral
  no warning on record since 2006 2.5 km
• River Thames at south Fulham including north Parsons Green, Walham Green and Eel Brook Common
  no warning on record since 2006 2.6 km
• River Thames at north Fulham including Stamford Bridge, areas to the west of Earls Court, Barons Court and West Kensington
  no warning on record since 2006 2.7 km
• River Thames from Wandsworth Bridge to Putney Bridge including Wandsworth Centre
  no warning on record since 2006 3.2 km
• River Thames from Hungerford Bridge to Battersea Power Station including Waterloo, Albert Embankment, Vauxhall, Oval and Nine Elms
  no warning on record since 2006 3.2 km
• River Thames from Blackfriars Bridge to Vauxhall Bridge including Temple, Embankment and Houses of Parliament
  no warning on record since 2006 3.5 km
• River Thames at Hammersmith and West Kensington including central Hammersmith, Olympia, Brook Green and West Kensington
  no warning on record since 2006 4.1 km
• River Wandle at Wandsworth including King Georges Park and Earlsfield, London Boroughs of Wandsworth and Merton
  no warning on record since 2006 4.5 km

Recorded floods near Chelsea

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

• 6 Jan 1928 — TTD_FEO_1928 Main river
• 1 Jan 1928 — TTD_FEO_1928 Main river

Rainfall near Chelsea

Chelsea gets about 622 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month October, 68 mm; driest March, 37 mm). That is 47% drier than the UK as a whole, which averages 1,163 mm a year. Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 (5 km grid), 0.3 km from the place centre.

The nearest rain gauge, Rainfall station (3.3 km away), recorded 2.8 mm in the last 24 hours and 60.6 mm in the last 7 days (latest reading 38 min ago).

At-risk postcodes in Chelsea

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

High likelihood (3)

Very low likelihood (54)

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.