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Milnrow Flooding

Greater Manchester • Live river level monitoring on River Beal
1 monitoring station
1 river
8 warning areas
🏠 Thinking of buying in Milnrow? Get the detailed Property Flood-Risk Report for any Milnrow postcode — official risk band, recorded floods since 1703, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off, instant. Learn more →

Does Milnrow flood? 42 postcodes in Milnrow are in the Environment Agency's rivers-and-sea flood-risk data (15 High, 3 Medium likelihood) — the breakdown is further down this page.

Flood risk in Milnrow today: Watch

Conditions are worth watching: heavy rain has fallen nearby (19.6 mm in the last 24 hours at Rainfall station). Keep an eye on updates if heavy rain continues.

Updated 2026-10-10 02:23:29 UTC · Official GOV.UK warnings · Flood preparation & help guide

About Milnrow
Milnrow
Town in Greater Manchester, England

Milnrow is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines, and forms a continuous urban area with Rochdale. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Rochdale town centre, 10 miles (16.1 km) north-northeast of Manchester, and spans from Windy Hill in the east to the Rochdale Canal in the west. Milnrow is adjacent to junction 21 of the M62 motorway, and includes the village of Newhey, and hamlets at Tunshill and Ogden.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Flood Contacts
Floodline 24hr
0345 988 1188
Emergency
999
The map of Milnrow’s gauges and flood maps loads as you reach it.
Flood Warning Areas

Does Milnrow flood?

Ordnance Survey places 42 postcodes in Milnrow 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 283 properties in the EA dataset's likelihood bands.

EA likelihood bandPostcodes (worst band)Properties in the EA datasetof which homes
High157841
Medium32919
Low24176135
Very low000
All bands42283195

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.

The 42 at-risk postcodes in Milnrow, worst band first

High likelihood (15)

Medium likelihood (3)

Low likelihood (24)

Postcode districts

Places nearby with a page of their own

Shaw · Whitworth · Middleton · Uppermill

Flood-risk bands: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2025. All rights reserved. Some features of this map are based on digital spatial data from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, © NERC (CEH). © Crown Copyright and Database Rights 2025 OS AC0000807064. This product is produced in part from PAF® and Multiple Residence Data, the copyright in which is owned by Royal Mail Group Limited and/or Royal Mail Group plc. All rights reserved. Licence number AC0000807064.

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.

All data sources & licences

The watercourse nearest Milnrow

The nearest watercourse on the river map is the River Beal, about 10 m from the middle of Milnrow's gauges. It flows into the River Roch about 3.2 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 Beal nearest the middle of Milnrow'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.

Useful Links
Flood Monitoring in Milnrow

Milnrow is monitored by 1 Environment Agency river level station on the River Beal, in Greater Manchester. Water levels are updated every 15 minutes, providing real-time flood monitoring for the area.

Monitoring Stations

The River Beal is monitored by 1 station (Station Road). Each station records water levels continuously, with data synced to FloodRadar every 5 minutes.

Flood Warning Areas

There are 8 Environment Agency flood warning areas within 10km of Milnrow. When the EA issues a flood warning for any of these areas, it will appear on this page. These include: Properties at Milnrow Precinct, on and around Stonefield Street, Station Road, Clifton Street, Whitworth Street, Dale Street, Edmund Street and Lily Street. Also around Charles Lane, Church Terrace, Lambourne Grove, Ladyhouse Lane and Ashfield Lane; Properties off Cold Greaves Close and surrounding Hanging Lees Close. Properties on Haugh Lane, Brick Mill Close and Stewart Street. Also properties surrounding Granville court, Laburnum Lane and off Cedar Lane, Whitebeam Close and Birch Crescent; Areas at risk include properties on Park Road, Buckley Road, Morley Street, Colley Street and Fox Street; Areas at risk include properties at the north end of Park Road, All Saints Works, Heybrook School, and properties on Hector Ave..

Sewage Discharge Monitoring

There are 40 storm overflows within 5km of Milnrow. 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:

What To Do During A Flood

If flooding is forecast in Milnrow, 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.

How much rain falls on Milnrow

Milnrow gets about 1,243 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month December, 143 mm; driest April, 72 mm). That is close to 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), 0.2 km away. Average rainfall: HadUK-Grid v1.3.2, Met Office. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Recorded floods near Milnrow

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 →

  • 2025-01-01 — Rochdale Newhey - NYE/NYD 25 (Main river)
  • 2022-02-20 — 2022 February Flood Incident -Storm Dudley, Eunice and Franklin (Drainage)
  • 2022-02-20 — 2022 February Flood Incident -Storm Dudley, Eunice and Franklin (Main river)
  • 2021-01-18 — 2021 January Flood Incident - Storm Christoph (Main river)
  • 2020-02-15 — 2020 February Flood Incident - Storm Dennis (Drainage)
  • 2020-02-15 — 2020 February Flood Incident - Storm Dennis (Ordinary watercourse)
  • 2020-02-15 — 2020 February Flood Incident - Storm Dennis (Main river)
  • 2020-02-15 — 2020 February Flood Incident - Storm Dennis (Ordinary watercourse)
  • 2020-02-15 — 2020 February Flood Incident - Storm Dennis (Main river)
  • 2020-02-15 — 2020 February Flood Incident - Storm Dennis (Drainage)
  • 2020-02-08 — 2020 February Flood Incident - Storm Ciara (Main river)
  • 2020-02-08 — 2020 February Flood Incident - Storm Ciara/Dennis (Main river)

Records, not floods: no outline on the record is not evidence a place has not flooded.

Frequently asked questions

Is there flooding in Milnrow today?

Current verdict: Watch. Conditions are worth watching: heavy rain has fallen nearby (19.6 mm in the last 24 hours at Rainfall station). Keep an eye on updates if heavy rain continues.

Which rivers affect Milnrow?

Milnrow has river level monitoring on River Beal — 1 monitoring station in total.

How do I check official flood warnings for Milnrow?

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.

What should I do during a flood warning?

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.

Has Milnrow flooded before?

Yes — the Environment Agency's Recorded Flood Outlines dataset shows 12 recorded flood extents around the town centre since 1703, most recently in 2022. 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.

🏠 Buying or renting around here? Get the Property Flood-Risk Report for any English postcode — official risk band, recorded floods, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off. Learn more →