Photo: Peter I. Vardy · Public domainIn Widnes, heavy rain puts more homes at risk than rivers or the sea: 4.6%, against 1%
On the Environment Agency’s maps, which allow for flood defences, “high or medium” means at least a 1 in 100 chance of flooding from rivers or the sea in any year. Hazard risk puts Widnes at C: #39 of 46 in Cheshire.
What stands out about Widnes’s hazards
From the Environment Agency’s maps and records and the BGS radon atlas, below.
What Widnes faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Rivers and the sea
Surface water
Past floods
The River Mersey
Flood warnings
Radon
Widnes grades C for hazard risk
Flood risk from rivers and the sea, against all UK towns.
The share of homes at high or medium risk from rivers and the sea, ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more: fewer homes at risk is better. Towns with none at high or medium risk are ordered by their share at low risk, so they don’t all share one score. Surface water and radon aren’t graded: they are described below.
Where the water goes in Widnes
Turn layers on and off. Blue is the risk from rivers and the sea; pink is where heavy rain collects. Both allow for flood defences.
The river and sea risk follows the River Ditton, the Mersey Estuary and the Ditton Brook. Surface-water risk is spread across the town, in dips, underpasses and along small streams, which is why more homes are exposed to it.
1% of Widnes’s homes are at high or medium risk from rivers or the sea
The Environment Agency’s national map, allowing for defences. A further 0.5% are at low risk.
Share of each UK town’s homes at high or medium risk from rivers and the sea. 35% of UK towns have none; Widnes has more than 68% of towns.
| # | Town | People | High or med. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dudley West Midlands | 64,277 | 0% | |
| 2 | Smethwick West Midlands | 56,343 | 0% | |
| 3 | Bootle Merseyside | 53,722 | 0% | |
| … | ||||
| 80 | Sale Greater Manchester | 62,545 | 0.9% | |
| 81 | Torquay Devon | 52,034 | 1% | |
| 82 | Widnes Cheshire | 59,938 | 1% | |
| 83 | Chesterfield Derbyshire | 76,394 | 1% | |
| 84 | King's Lynn Norfolk | 47,604 | 1.1% | |
| … | ||||
| 124 | Maidenhead Berkshire | 67,391 | 6% | |
| 125 | West Molesey Surrey | 47,144 | 7.2% | |
UK towns of 42,000 to 84,000 people.
The Environment Agency’s Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea (NaFRA2, June 2026) counts each postcode’s homes by band; the shares weight those postcodes by Census 2021 households. The EA counts include homes built since 2021.
Heavy rain puts about 4.6 times as many Widnes homes at risk as rivers and the sea do
Surface water is rain that falls faster than drains and the ground can take it. It is mapped separately from rivers and the sea, and it is not in the Hazard risk Grade.
About 2.2% of homes are at high risk of surface-water flooding (a 1 in 30 chance or more each year) and 2.4% at medium risk: roughly 1,200 households. A further 8.4% face a low risk from surface water. That is more than 64% of UK towns.
Our estimate: every address in the town (ONS NSUL) read on the Environment Agency’s Risk of Flooding from Surface Water map (NaFRA2, 2025), each postcode’s share weighted by its Census 2021 households. Neither agency publishes a count of homes for surface water, so treat it as a guide; one street can differ from the next.
Widnes has flooded in 2 recorded years since 1990, most of all in 1990
Every flood the Environment Agency has mapped inside Widnes’s built-up area, newest first. The record is fullest for big river floods; small and surface-water floods are often missing.
- 2002January 2002: River flooding recordedUnder 1 hectare inside today’s built-up area
- 1990February 1990: River flooding recorded12 hectares inside today’s built-up area
Floodwater covered 12 hectares of what is now Widnes in 1990, the largest flood the record holds here (February).
2 of Widnes’s households today live inside the outline of a recorded flood.
Since 1990, the largest recorded flood inside the town covered under 1 hectare.
The River Mersey at Fiddlers Ferry: highest 7.37 m, in December 2013
The highest level each winter (October to September) at the Environment Agency’s Fiddlers Ferry gauge (Penketh), since 2005. The river normally runs between 2.61 m and 6.20 m here.
- 5 December 20137.37 m
- 12 March 20207.05 m
- 30 March 20067.02 m
- 9 April 20246.97 m
- 3 January 20186.96 m
- 9 February 20206.88 m
The River Mersey has topped its normal range on 235 days since 2005, most in the winters of 2014–15 and 2006–07. By its highest day, the winter of 2025–26 was the 18th-highest of the 19.
Environment Agency Hydrology API, Fiddlers Ferry (station 694063), daily maximum level; the record and normal range from the EA’s stage scale. Live river levels are on GOV.UK’s Check for flooding.
No flood warning or alert is in force for Widnes · 34 warnings in 20 years
The Environment Agency has 4 flood warning areas and 3 alert areas reaching into the town; warnings since the service began in 2006.
The warning area covering the most of Widnes, Irish Sea and Mersey estuary from the Head of the Wirral to Runcorn, has not had a flood warning since 2006. Of the 34 warnings, 32 were for Mersey Estuary at Fiddlers Ferry, Warrington and 1 for Ditton Brook at Ditton.
2014 had the most warnings (6); 2016 the most alerts (37). The most recent warning was on 20 October 2024.
Show the 7 warning and alert areas
| Area | Kind | Since 2006 | Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mersey Estuary at Fiddlers Ferry, Warrington | Warning area | 32 | None |
| Ditton Brook at Halebank | Warning area | 1 | None |
| Ditton Brook at Ditton | Warning area | 1 | None |
| Irish Sea and Mersey estuary from the Head of the Wirral to Runcorn | Warning area | 0 | None |
| Mersey Estuary at Warrington | Alert area | 169 | None |
| Mersey Estuary from Liverpool and Wirral to Widnes | Alert area | 49 | None |
| River Ditton catchment including areas around Huyton-with-Roby and Widnes | Alert area | 28 | None |
Environment Agency Historic Flood Warnings (first issues only, not updates; “flood watch” counted as an alert before 2011) and the real-time flood-monitoring API. Sign up for free warnings on GOV.UK or call Floodline, 0345 988 1188.
Parts of Widnes are in radon Affected Areas, at the low end
Radon is a natural radioactive gas from the ground; long exposure raises the risk of lung cancer. The atlas gives the chance that a home in each 1 km square is above the UK action level (200 Bq/m³).
78% of Widnes’s built-up area is in a radon Affected Area (1% of homes or more above the action level).
The squares are indicative: each takes the highest band found anywhere inside it, so most homes in a coloured square are below it. Only a three-month test in the home gives a real answer.
BGS/UKHSA Indicative Atlas of Radon in Great Britain, version 3. Check an address at UKradon.org.
Flood risk in the places around Widnes
Share of homes at high or medium and at low risk from rivers and the sea. Tap a town for its page.
Widnes has more homes at high or medium risk than any neighbour in the table. Cronton, Hale Bank and Burtonwood have none.
Get ready for what Widnes faces
Free warnings, what to do in a cloudburst, and what to check before you move.
- Sign up free for Environment Agency flood warnings by text, call or email.
- Floodline: 0345 988 1188, 24 hours.
- Widnes’s warning areas include Irish Sea and Mersey estuary from the Head of the Wirral to Runcorn and Ditton Brook at Ditton.
- Surface water rises in minutes, often with no warning issued: stay out of underpasses and dips.
- Keep the gullies and drains outside your home clear of leaves.
- Report a blocked road drain to the council.
- Test over three months, in a living room and a bedroom.
- Above 200 Bq/m³, a small sump and fan usually fixes it.
- New homes in radon areas are built with protection: basic from 3%, full from 10%.
- Check the address on GOV.UK’s long-term flood risk service: it gives rivers and sea and surface water separately.
- Ask whether the home has flooded or had a flood insurance claim; the TA6 property form asks the seller.
- Homes built before 2009 can get flood cover through Flood Re, the government-backed scheme; newer homes can’t.
- Check radon for the address on UKradon.org (a small fee) or ask the seller for a test result.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Defences are counted. Both agencies’ maps allow for flood defences and the chance they are overtopped or fail, so a town behind a defence scheme can show few homes at high risk and many at low risk.
- Surface water is our estimate. Neither agency publishes a count of homes at risk from surface water, so we read each address on the map. A flat on a hill and a basement in a dip can share a postcode.
- Past floods are what was recorded. The flood outlines come from surveys, aerial photographs and reports; many small floods, and most surface-water floods, were never mapped.
- One town, many streets. Risk is street by street. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s long-term flood risk service before you buy or rent.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Widnes
Does Widnes flood?
The last flood the Environment Agency recorded inside the town was in January 2002. 1% of homes are at high or medium risk from rivers and the sea on the Environment Agency’s maps, which allow for flood defences. About 4.6% of homes are at high or medium risk from surface water, when heavy rain overwhelms the drains. Widnes grades C for hazard risk against UK towns.
Which parts of Widnes are at risk of flooding?
From rivers and the sea, the places the Environment Agency warns directly: Mersey Estuary at Fiddlers Ferry, Warrington, Ditton Brook at Ditton, Ditton Brook at Halebank and Irish Sea and Mersey estuary from the Head of the Wirral to Runcorn. Surface water can collect in low spots anywhere in the town. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s long-term flood risk service.
When did Widnes last flood?
The recorded flood outlines inside the town run from 1990 to 2002 (2 years); the largest was in 1990. Flood warnings have been issued for parts of the town since 2006, most recently on 20 October 2024.
Is Widnes at risk of surface water flooding?
About 2.2% of homes are at high risk and 2.4% at medium risk from surface water, against 1% at high or medium risk from rivers and the sea. Surface water floods come with little warning, and the agencies don’t issue warnings for them.
Is radon a problem in Widnes?
78% of the town’s built-up area is in a radon Affected Area on the BGS/UKHSA atlas. Most homes are below it; a three-month test is the only way to know.
Are there flood warnings in Widnes now?
No flood warning or alert was in force near Widnes at 3 November 2026, 16:48. Live warnings are on GOV.UK’s Check for flooding service and Floodline, 0345 988 1188.
Contains Environment Agency information © Environment Agency and/or database right 2026. Contains British Geological Survey materials © UKRI 2026.
Sources: Environment Agency Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea, postcodes in areas at risk (June 2026); Natural Resources Wales Flood Risk Assessment Wales (May 2026); ONS Census 2021 households by postcode · Environment Agency Risk of Flooding from Surface Water (NaFRA2, 2025) and Natural Resources Wales Flood Risk Assessment Wales surface water and small watercourses, read at every address (ONS National Statistics UPRN Lookup, September 2026) and weighted by Census 2021 households by postcode · Environment Agency Recorded Flood Outlines and Natural Resources Wales historic flood map, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Environment Agency Hydrology API (daily maximum river level) and flood-monitoring stage scales · Environment Agency real-time flood-monitoring API · Environment Agency Historic Flood Warnings (January 2006 to June 2026) and flood warning and alert areas · BGS/UKHSA Indicative Atlas of Radon in Great Britain, version 3, by 1 km square · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.