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Conditions are worth watching: heavy rain has fallen nearby (30.6 mm in the last 24 hours at Rainfall station). Keep an eye on updates if heavy rain continues.
Updated 2026-10-09 18:46:15 UTC · Official GOV.UK warnings · Flood preparation & help guide
Helmshore is a village in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, England, south of Haslingden between the A56 and the B6235, 16 miles (26 km) north of Manchester. The population at the 2011 census was 5,805. The housing in Helmshore is mixed, with some two-up, two-down terraces, top-and-bottom houses and a few surviving back-to-back cottages. Between the 1970s and 2020 new housing estates have proliferated.
Towns and villages near Helmshore with a page of their own: the homes in a flood risk area there, the nearest river gauges, and recorded floods.
Haslingden · Water · Oswaldtwistle · Church · Whitworth
Place names: Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026. Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
The nearest watercourse on the river map is the River Ogden, about 10 m from the middle of Helmshore's gauges. It flows into the River Irwell 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 the River Ogden nearest the middle of Helmshore's gauges. 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.
Helmshore is monitored by 1 Environment Agency river level station on the Ogden Brook, in Lancashire. Water levels are updated every 15 minutes, providing real-time flood monitoring for the area.
The Ogden Brook is monitored by 1 station (Little Bridge). Each station records water levels continuously, with data synced to FloodRadar every 5 minutes.
There are 8 Environment Agency flood warning areas within 10km of Helmshore. When the EA issues a flood warning for any of these areas, it will appear on this page. These include: Areas at risk include properties on Sunny Bank Close, Bridge End Close, Helmshore Road, Holecombe Road, Yarn Avenue and Cotton Way; Areas at risk include Irwell Vale, Aitken Street, Bowker Street, Chapel Terrace, Hardsough Fold, Milne Street and Parkinson Fold; Areas at risk are those adjacent to the River Irwell through Strongstry and Chatterton. Including North St, Strongstry Bridge, Chatterton Rd. Other areas at risk include Areas in the vicinity of, Bolton Rd North, and Cuba industrial estate; Properties on and adjacent to Burnley Road; south of Constable Lee Bridge. Bocholt Way and Bacup Road from Bury Road to Lench Road. Properties near Hareholme mill, Victoria Works and Holme Lane including parts of New Hall Hey Road.
There are 17 storm overflows within 5km of Helmshore. 1 is currently discharging. Enable "Sewage" on the map above to see their locations.
6 of them, nearest first, with their own page of live status and past discharges:
If flooding is forecast in Helmshore, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 for the latest information. Move valuables upstairs, turn off gas and electricity if safe to do so, and avoid walking or driving through flood water. Sign up for flood warnings on any station page above to receive email alerts when water levels rise. For emergency numbers, a preparation checklist and insurance guidance, see our flood help & preparation guide.
Helmshore gets about 1,440 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month December, 168 mm; driest April, 83 mm). That is 24% wetter than the UK as a whole, which averages 1,163 mm a year. See the rain gauges →
A thirty-year average for the area, not a forecast and not a flood risk on its own. Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 (5 km grid), 1.7 km away. Average rainfall: HadUK-Grid v1.3.2, Met Office. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Floods whose mapped extent (EA Recorded Flood Outlines) reached within ~5 km of the town centre — most recent first. These are records of mapped extents, not a full list of floods. See them on the map →
Records, not floods: no outline on the record is not evidence a place has not flooded.
Current verdict: Watch. Conditions are worth watching: heavy rain has fallen nearby (30.6 mm in the last 24 hours at Rainfall station). Keep an eye on updates if heavy rain continues.
Helmshore has river level monitoring on Ogden Brook — 1 monitoring station in total.
Use the GOV.UK Check for Flooding service (check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk) or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 (24 hours). You can also set up free FloodRadar email or browser alerts from any station page above.
Follow official advice: move valuables and vehicles to safety, never walk or drive through flood water, turn off gas and electricity if safe, and check on vulnerable neighbours. See our flood preparation guide at floodradar.co.uk/flood-help.
Yes — the Environment Agency's Recorded Flood Outlines dataset shows 17 recorded flood extents around the town centre since 1703, most recently in 2024. That is a count of mapped extents, not of separate floods. Records, not floods: no outline on the record is not evidence a place has not flooded. See the flood history link below.
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