Does Ipswich flood?

Flood warnings in force near Ipswich

• Flood alert — The Suffolk and Essex coast from Felixstowe to Clacton including Orwell and Stour estuaries
  Flooding is possible from 10:15am to 12:15pm Monday 26th October 6.0 km

From the Environment Agency (England). Always check the GOV.UK Check for Flooding service or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188.

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

Ordnance Survey places 234 postcodes in Ipswich 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 4,988 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.

Flood warning areas near Ipswich

9 Environment Agency flood warning areas lie within 10 km of Ipswich. The EA has issued 332 flood warnings and alerts for them since 2006, most recently on 26 Oct 2026.

• The east bank of the tidal River Orwell at Ipswich including the wet dock, the waterfront, town centre, to Beaconsfield Road, upstream of Stoke Bridge
  1 warning or alert since 2006, latest Dec 2013 0.1 km
• The west bank of the tidal River Orwell through Ipswich from Rayleigh Industrial Estate to the Ipswich Tidal Barrier and the railway bridge on Wherstead Road
  1 warning or alert since 2006, latest Dec 2013 0.2 km
• The west bank of the tidal River Orwell from the railway bridge on Wherstead Road to Bourne Bridge
  no warning on record since 2006 1.4 km
• The tidal River Orwell at Cliff Quay industrial area in Ipswich
  9 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Jan 2022 1.8 km
• The River Gipping from downstream of Needham Market to upstream of London Road Bridge, Ipswich, including riverside areas at Great Blakenham, Bramford and Sproughton
  56 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Jan 2026 5.2 km
• The Suffolk and Essex coast from Felixstowe to Clacton, including Ipswich, and the Orwell and Stour estuaries
  253 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Oct 2026 6.0 km
• The tidal River Orwell estuary from Felixstowe, including Trimley Marshes, Pin Mill, Nacton Shore, The Strand under the Orwell Bridge, the Western Quays, and Ipswich Tidal Barrier
  3 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Jan 2017 8.9 km
• The River Gipping from Needham Market to London Road Bridge, Ipswich, including Bramford and Sproughton
  3 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Oct 2023 9.0 km
• The River Lark from Clopton to Martlesham, including Grundisburgh and the Bealings
  6 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Feb 2024 9.2 km

Recorded floods near Ipswich

Floods whose mapped extent (EA Recorded Flood Outlines) reached within ~5 km of Ipswich, 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 Dec 2013 — 2013 Flood Outline Sea
• 9 Jan 2009 — 2009 Flood Outline Main river
• 12 Jan 1968 — 1968 September Flood Outline Main river
• 31 Jan 1953 — 1953 Coast Flood Outline Suffolk Sea
• 13 Feb 1947 — 1947 Flood Outline Main river
• 1 Jan 1939 — 1939 River Gipping Flood Outline Sea

Rainfall near Ipswich

Ipswich gets about 602 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month November, 62 mm; driest April, 36 mm). That is 48% drier than the UK as a whole, which averages 1,163 mm a year. Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 (5 km grid), 2.2 km from the place centre.

The nearest rain gauge, Rainfall station (2.8 km away), recorded 3.0 mm in the last 24 hours and 38.1 mm in the last 7 days (latest reading 32 min ago).

At-risk postcodes in Ipswich

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

High likelihood (13)

Medium likelihood (1)

Low likelihood (20)

Very low likelihood (200)

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.