Richmond upon Thames Flood Risk

Richmond upon Thames has a Low flood risk from rivers and the sea , with 2.4% of homes in a Medium or High band. The nearest gauge is 1.5 km away.

Richmond upon Thames has 192,108 residents and 84,633 homes. Ranked 1247 of 7,114 in England for rivers and sea flood risk.

What Is The River Level Near Richmond upon Thames Right Now?

0.036 m within its typical range
Gauge
Marsh Farm, Twickenham
Distance
1.5 km from the centre of Richmond upon Thames
Typical range
0.018 m to 1.55 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 0.956 m , reached on 13 October 1993.

All gauges on this river

Why Are Parts Of Richmond upon Thames In Flood Zone 3 But Rated Low Risk?

15.3% of postcodes in Richmond upon Thames fall in Flood Zone 3, but the flood risk band for rivers and the sea is low. The two maps measure different things: the Flood Zone ignores defences, and the band counts them.

Why a Flood Zone 3 house can be Low risk

When Has Richmond upon Thames Flooded Before?

The Environment Agency holds 7 recorded flood outlines covering Richmond upon Thames, the most recent dated 12 January 2003.

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 Richmond upon Thames's Flood Risk Classification Mean?

15.3% of postcodes in Richmond upon Thames 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 2.4% 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.

Richmond upon Thames is one of the places where they disagree most in England: a large share of its postcodes are in Flood Zone 3, yet few of its homes carry a Medium or High band. The gap is the defences — land the planning map must treat as floodplain, behind a barrier that lowers the present-day chance of flooding.

Flood Zone versus flood risk band: the full comparison

Which Postcode Districts Cover Richmond upon Thames?

Each district below is one postcode district that falls inside Richmond upon Thames. 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 Richmond upon Thames, 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
TW1 604 Low 1,341
TW2 540 Low 1,443
TW9 537 Low 3,064
TW12 530 Low 2,011
TW11 519 Low 1,705
TW10 467 Low 945
SW14 351 Low 2,276
SW13 346 Low 1,618
KT1 71 High 40
TW4 62 Low 253
TW3 22 Low 45
TW13 19 Low 8
KT8 16 High 7
TW7 7 Low 35
KT2 4 Not mapped — no rivers-and-sea band covers this district not published for this district
SW15 2 High 2

"Not mapped" is not "no risk". It means no rivers-and-sea band covers that district in the source — surface water can still flood it, and both Camden and Islington flooded from surface water in July 2021 while carrying no mapped rivers-and-sea band.

What Else Is Near Richmond upon Thames?

Other places on the River Crane, nearest to Richmond upon Thames first.