Does Kempston flood?

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

Ordnance Survey places 32 postcodes in Kempston 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 285 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 Kempston

Environment Agency gauges within 10 km of Kempston watch River Great Ouse.

• Bedford
  River Great Ouse · 3.3 km away 0.40 m
  normal range · rising · 25 min ago
• Bromham
  River Great Ouse · 3.3 km away 29.18 mAOD
  normal range · steady · 25 min ago
• Cardington
  River Great Ouse · 5.1 km away 1.27 m
  normal range · falling · 55 min ago
• Castle Mill
  River Great Ouse · 7.2 km away 0.12 m
  below normal · falling · 25 min ago
• Turvey
  River Great Ouse · 9.9 km away 0.28 m
  normal range · steady · 25 min ago

Distances are from the middle of Kempston'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 Kempston

9 Environment Agency flood warning areas lie within 10 km of Kempston. The EA has issued 29 flood warnings and alerts for them since 2006, most recently on 6 Feb 2026.

• Church Walk, Water Lane, Mill Lane, High Street, King William Close and Hillgrounds Road
  5 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Sep 2024 0.6 km
• Kempston Church End, Church Walk, King William Road, High Street, Riverview Way, Meadowview Road, Sanders Close, Molly Moore Avenue, Denton Close, Earls Holme, Odell Close and Garyn Lane and Riverside Close
  1 warning or alert since 2006, latest Dec 2020 0.9 km
• Bromham Park, Bromham Mill and Bromham Road in Bromham, and Church End in Biddenham
  1 warning or alert since 2006, latest Dec 2020 2.9 km
• Palgrave Road, Cauldwell Street, Holme Street Holt Row, Melbourne Street, Heron Quay, Riverside Square, Kingsway, St John's Street, Rays Close, Duckmill Lane, Chethams, Cardington Road, Kingsbrook Road, Lindisfarne Priory and Castle Mill Cottage
  2 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Sep 2024 3.1 km
• Paddlers Court, Woodstock Road, Nelson Street, Cauldwell Walk, Palgrave Road, Sovereigns Quay, Commercial Road, Riverside Square, River Street, Greyfriars, Nicholls Road, Cardington Road, Goodmayes Close, Tennyson Road, Chapel Close and Bury Walk
  2 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Dec 2020 3.7 km
• River Great Ouse from Sharnbrook to Roxton, including Sharn Brook, Gadsey Brook, and with Longholme Boatlake possibly being inaccessible
  6 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Feb 2026 3.8 km
• College Farm at Oakley, and Folly Park, High Street, The Close, The Warren, Preservine Walk, Ursula Taylor Walk and Bedford Road in Clapham
  2 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Nov 2024 4.3 km
• Marina Court, the brewery on Havelock Street, St Paul's Square, Duckmill Lane, Longholme Boating Lake, Priory Marina, the hotel and girls school on Cardington Road and Castle Mill
  9 warnings and alerts since 2006, latest Nov 2024 5.1 km
• The High Road in Felmersham, High Street in Sharnbrook, Rushden Road in Bletsoe, Close Road and Bedford Road in Pavenham, and Bedford Road in Milton Ernest
  1 warning or alert since 2006, latest Dec 2020 9.0 km

Recorded floods near Kempston

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

• 1 Jan 1998 — Easter 1998
• 1 Jan 1992 — September 1992 River
• 1 Jan 1987 — October 1987 River
• 1 Jan 1983 — May 1983 River
• 1 Jan 1980 — August 1980 River
• 1 Jan 1947 — March 1947

Rainfall near Kempston

Kempston gets about 575 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month October, 61 mm; driest March, 34 mm). That is 51% 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 (5.9 km away), recorded 2.2 mm in the last 24 hours and 36.4 mm in the last 7 days (latest reading 25 min ago).

At-risk postcodes in Kempston

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

High likelihood (9)

Medium likelihood (5)

Low likelihood (18)

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.