Harlow Flood Risk

Harlow has a Low flood risk from rivers and the sea , with 0.2% of homes in a Medium or High band. The nearest gauge is 2.5 km away.

Harlow has 93,738 residents and 40,982 homes. Ranked 2741 of 7,114 in England for rivers and sea flood risk.

What Is The River Level Near Harlow Right Now?

0.046 m within its typical range
Gauge
Harlow, Elizabeth Way, Harlow
Distance
2.5 km from the centre of Harlow
Typical range
0.053 m to 1.9 m
Reading taken
20 Sept, 14:00 UTC

Read from the Environment Agency flood-monitoring feed at 20 Sept, 14:34 UTC. The highest level on record here is 2.145 m , reached on 10 June 1993.

All gauges on this river

When Has Harlow Flooded Before?

The Environment Agency holds 16 recorded flood outlines covering Harlow, the most recent dated 16 January 2021.

Absence of a record is not evidence that a place has never flooded — the Environment Agency states that a lack of coverage does not mean an area has never flooded.

What Does Harlow's Flood Risk Classification Mean?

0.2% of postcodes in Harlow sit in Flood Zone 3, the planning band for land with a 1% or greater annual chance of river flooding or 0.5% or greater of sea flooding — and the map that draws it deliberately ignores flood defences.

The flood risk band for rivers and the sea is Low , with 0.2% of homes in a Medium or High band. Unlike the Flood Zone, the band counts the defences that are actually in place, which is why the two can describe the same street differently and both be right.

Flood Zone versus flood risk band: the full comparison

Which Postcode Districts Cover Harlow?

Each district below is one postcode district that falls inside Harlow. The band is the one shared by most of that district's postcodes, so it describes the district rather than a single street — enter a full postcode in the checker for one address. A district can cover more than one town, and the district pages linked from the checker are keyed to the town that holds most of its postcodes.

Postcode districts covering Harlow, with the flood risk band shared by most of each district's postcodes. A district can span more than one local area, so its band is a summary and not a property-level answer.
Postcode district Postcodes here Rivers and sea band Surface water addresses
CM20 524 High 3,478
CM17 432 High 2,569
CM18 424 High 3,709
CM19 313 High 2,493
CM16 1 Low 2

What Else Is Near Harlow?