Quick answer: Across ten years of Environment Agency data (2016 to 2025), 80% of flood warnings in England were issued between October and February, and fewer than 4% in June, July and August. Warnings more than double between September and October and peak in January. The big exception is surface water flooding from heavy downpours, which the warning service doesn’t cover and which can happen in any month.
The Environment Agency publishes a record of every flood warning it issues in England. We took every new Flood Warning (flooding is expected, immediate action required) and Severe Flood Warning (severe flooding, danger to life) issued between January 2016 and December 2025. We left out Flood Alerts and updates to existing warnings, so each warning in our count is a fresh call to act.
That gave 11,622 warnings, including 89 Severe Flood Warnings. Each one is issued for a specific warning area, so a single storm can trigger dozens across a region.
England’s flood calendar
| Month | Flood Warnings, 2016 to 2025 |
|---|---|
| January | 2,518 |
| February | 2,267 |
| March | 821 |
| April | 347 |
| May | 120 |
| June | 153 |
| July | 119 |
| August | 161 |
| September | 578 |
| October | 1,462 |
| November | 1,605 |
| December | 1,471 |
What stands out:
- October to February accounts for 80% of all warnings.
- January is the peak month, with February close behind.
- May is the quietest, with 120 warnings in ten years.
- September is the turning point. Warnings rise from 578 in September to 1,462 in October, and stay high until March.
- 87 of the 89 Severe Flood Warnings were issued between October and February.
Flood warnings are getting more frequent
| Year | Flood Warnings |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 803 |
| 2017 | 384 |
| 2018 | 466 |
| 2019 | 1,305 |
| 2020 | 1,914 |
| 2021 | 871 |
| 2022 | 584 |
| 2023 | 1,695 |
| 2024 | 2,515 |
| 2025 | 1,085 |
2024 was the busiest year in the decade, with 2,515 warnings. The four busiest years, 2024, 2020, 2023 and 2019, have all come since 2019. Quiet years still happen, but a quiet winter is no guarantee about the next one.
Want to know which places get the most warnings? See our companion post, where does England flood most?
What this means for your flood pump
Make September your action month. If you need a pump, buy it before the warnings start climbing. If you already have one, take it out and test it in September. Our winter flood pump checklist walks you through it.
Don’t wait for the warning. When a Flood Warning is issued, you may only have hours, and everyone else nearby is looking for a pump at the same moment. That’s why we recommend owning a pump rather than relying on hire: see hire or buy a flood pump?
Buy for how you’ll use it. If someone will be there when the water arrives, a manual puddle pump with a matched hose is simple and effective.
If water could arrive overnight or while you’re away, choose an automatic pump that switches itself on.
For larger areas, or water behind a flood barrier, you’ll want more flow.
Not sure whether you need manual or automatic? Our guide to manual vs automatic flood pumps explains the trade-off.
The flooding this data doesn’t show
There’s an important catch. Environment Agency flood warnings cover flooding from rivers and the sea, and groundwater in a limited number of places. They don’t cover surface water flooding, when heavy rain falls faster than drains can take it away.
Surface water flooding often comes from intense summer storms, can build in minutes and can happen nowhere near a river. So a quiet July in the warning figures doesn’t mean a quiet July for flooding. We saw it in the flash flooding in London and Richmond and the Birmingham storms.
- If you’re at risk from rivers or the sea, use the flood calendar above, and make September your action month.
- If you’re at risk from surface water, there’s no season and often no warning. Keep a pump ready all year, and consider an automatic one.
Not sure which applies to you? Check your address on the government’s long term flood risk service, which shows rivers and the sea and surface water separately, and sign up for flood warnings where they’re available.
Get ready before the season starts
Order online, or by phone. Order by 2pm for next working day dispatch, with delivery across the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Just don’t leave it until the warning comes through.
Source: Environment Agency, Historic Flood Warnings (AfA435), data.gov.uk, file dated July 2026. England only. New Flood Warnings and Severe Flood Warnings issued 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2025; Flood Alerts and updates excluded. Contains Environment Agency data © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026.
