Does Croydon flood?

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

Ordnance Survey places 147 postcodes in Croydon 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 3,091 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 Croydon

Environment Agency gauges within 10 km of Croydon watch River Wandle, Norbury Brook, St James Stream, River Graveney, The Beck, Pyl Brook.

• Waddon Ponds
  River Wandle · 1.6 km away 0.03 m
  normal range · steady · 28 min ago
• Beddington Park
  River Wandle · 2.9 km away 0.28 m
  normal range · 28 min ago
• Thornton Heath
  Norbury Brook · 3.4 km away 0.99 m
  normal range · 28 min ago
• Carshalton Ponds
  River Wandle · 4.3 km away 0.07 m
  normal range · steady · 28 min ago
• Hackbridge
  River Wandle · 4.4 km away 1.14 m
  below normal · steady · 28 min ago
• Upper Elmers End
  St James Stream · 5.4 km away 0.39 m
  normal range · 28 min ago
• Abercairn Road
  River Graveney · 6.5 km away 0.93 m
  normal range · steady · 28 min ago
• Beckenham
  The Beck · 7.1 km away 0.50 m
  normal range · 28 min ago
• North Cheam
  Pyl Brook · 7.6 km away 1.09 m
  normal range · 28 min ago
• Longley Road Structure
  River Graveney · 8.2 km away 0.12 m
  controlled by a sluice or weir · 28 min ago
• Wandle Park Main Channel
  River Wandle · 8.3 km away 0.33 m
  normal range · just past its peak · 28 min ago
• Wandle Park Side Channel
  River Wandle · 8.3 km away 0.34 m
  normal range · just past its peak · 28 min ago

Distances are from the middle of Croydon'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 Croydon

15 Environment Agency flood warning areas lie within 10 km of Croydon. The EA has issued 157 flood warnings and alerts for them since 2006, most recently on 27 Aug 2026.

• Areas at risk of groundwater flooding in the Caterham Bourne catchment including Caterham, Whyteleafe, Kenley, Purley, South Croydon, Beddington and Carshalton
  2 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Feb 2014 1.3 km
• River Wandle at Beddington Park including Hackbridge and Waddon, London Boroughs of Sutton and Croydon
  no warning on record since 2006 3.1 km
• Norbury Brook at Thornton Heath and Streatham Vale, including Norbury and Norbury Park, London Boroughs of Croydon and Lambeth
  no warning on record since 2006 5.0 km
• Chaffinch Brook and St James Stream at Elmers End and Upper Elmers End, including South Norwood Country Park, London Boroughs of Bromley and Croydon
  3 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Sep 2024 5.5 km
• River Wandle area in the London Boroughs of Wandsworth, Merton, Lambeth, Croydon and Sutton. Including the Norbury Brook from Thornton Heath to Tooting
  51 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Jul 2025 6.2 km
• River Wandle at Morden, including Morden Hall Park, London Borough of Merton
  2 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Mar 2023 6.7 km
• Beck at Beckenham, London Borough of Bromley
  no warning on record since 2006 6.9 km
• River Graveney at Tooting and Colliers Wood, London Boroughs of Wandsworth and Merton
  no warning on record since 2006 8.1 km
• East Pyl Brook at Morden Park from the A24 to West Barnes, London Borough of Merton
  no warning on record since 2006 8.2 km
• Pyl Brook at North Cheam including Kimpton Industrial Estate, London Boroughs of Merton and Sutton
  1 warning or alert since 2006, latest Oct 2023 8.3 km
• River Wandle at Wimbledon including Colliers Wood, Merton Abbey, Connollys Mill, Summerstown and Wimbledon Stadium, London Borough of Merton
  1 warning or alert since 2006, latest Sep 2024 8.6 km
• Pool River at Bell Green and New Beckenham, London Boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley
  no warning on record since 2006 8.7 km

Recorded floods near Croydon

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

• 14 Sep 1968 — 06SeptemberAutumn1968 Main river
• 1 Nov 1965 — 06NovemberWinter1965 Main river

Rainfall near Croydon

Croydon gets about 757 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month November, 84 mm; driest March, 47 mm). That is 35% drier than the UK as a whole, which averages 1,163 mm a year. Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 (5 km grid), 2.0 km from the place centre.

The nearest rain gauge, Rainfall station (2.1 km away), recorded 2.6 mm in the last 24 hours and 59.0 mm in the last 7 days (latest reading 28 min ago).

At-risk postcodes in Croydon

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

High likelihood (98)

Medium likelihood (21)

Low likelihood (28)

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.