Pause to Updates of Flood Risk Maps

Created: 2 January 2024

Quarterly updates of our flood risk maps have been paused in the lead up to publishing new versions as part of our new national flood risk assessment by the end of 2024.

This includes:

• Flood zones (last update: 1^st November 2023)

• Risk of flooding from rivers and sea (last update: 6^th December 2023)

• Reduction in risk of flooding from rivers and sea due to defences (last update: 6^th December 2023)

Other data included within the Flood Map for Planning will continue to be updated. This includes data relating to flood history, flood defences, and water storage areas.

We will resume updates of these maps following publication of our new national flood risk information in 2024. We plan to update the new flood risk maps in 2025, followed by regular updates every three months.

Where possible, new risk information we obtain during the pause to updates will be included in our flood maps in the first update of the new flood risk maps in 2025, subject to requirements. This includes new local flood models that we have produced, as well as relevant data provided by third parties.

We will provide notifications on the Check Your Long-Term Flood Risk website and the Flood Map for Planning portal to indicate where there is new local flood risk information, where appropriate.

By the end of 2024, we are due to publish new national risk information for flooding and coastal erosion, including future scenarios accounting for climate change. There will be changes to data formats and structures. If you are a regular user of the products that we publish, you may need to amend your processing steps. Further detail about these changes will be provided in a future FAQ. You can sign up to updates about our new flood and coastal risk information here.