Photo: Bellminsterboy · CC BY-SA 3.0In Sturminster Marshall, 4.9% of homes face high or medium risk from rivers or the sea and 1.2% from surface water
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. For hazard risk, Sturminster Marshall grades D.
What stands out about Sturminster Marshall’s hazards
From the Environment Agency’s maps and records and the BGS radon atlas, below.
What Sturminster Marshall 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 Winterbourne
Flood warnings
Radon
Sturminster Marshall grades D 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 Sturminster Marshall
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 Stour, the River Lodden and the River Allen. Surface-water risk is patchier: dips, underpasses and small streams.
4.9% of Sturminster Marshall’s homes are at high or medium risk from rivers or the sea
The Environment Agency’s national map, allowing for defences. A further 15% 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; Sturminster Marshall has more than 90% of towns.
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.
Rivers and the sea, more than heavy rain, are Sturminster Marshall’s flood risk
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 0.9% of homes are at high risk of surface-water flooding (a 1 in 30 chance or more each year) and 0.2% at medium risk: roughly 10 households. A further 4.7% face a low risk from surface water. That is more than 13% of UK towns.
Our estimate: every address in the village (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.
Sturminster Marshall has flooded in 3 recorded years since 1979, most of all in 1979
Every flood the Environment Agency has mapped inside Sturminster Marshall’s built-up area, newest first. The record is fullest for big river floods; small and surface-water floods are often missing.
- 2009February 2009: River flooding recordedUnder 1 hectare inside today’s built-up area
- 1989December 1989: River flooding recordedUnder 1 hectare inside today’s built-up area · Stour Corfe Mullen to Christchurch
- 1979May and December 1979: River flooding recorded4 hectares inside today’s built-up area
Floodwater covered 4 hectares of what is now Sturminster Marshall in 1979, the largest flood the record holds here (May and December).
33 of Sturminster Marshall’s households today live inside the outline of a recorded flood.
Since 1979, the largest recorded flood inside the village covered under 1 hectare.
The River Winterbourne in January 2026 rose to its highest level since 2007
The highest level each winter (October to September) at the Environment Agency’s Sturminster Marshall Maggs Bridge gauge, since 2007. The river normally runs between 0.00 m and 0.96 m here.
- 27 January 20261.79 m
- 19 February 20261.61 m
- 6 February 20261.60 m
- 15 February 20141.54 m
- 16 January 20231.46 m
- 9 January 20141.43 m
The River Winterbourne has topped its normal range on 358 days since 2007, most in the winters of 2012–13 and 2013–14. By its highest day, the winter of 2025–26 was the highest of the 15.
Environment Agency Hydrology API, Sturminster Marshall Maggs Bridge (station 43233), 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 Sturminster Marshall · 45 warnings in 20 years
The Environment Agency has 3 flood warning areas and 2 alert areas reaching into the village; warnings since the service began in 2006.
The warning area covering the most of Sturminster Marshall, Groundwater flooding in the West of Dorset, has not had a flood warning since 2006. Of the 45 warnings, 45 were for Middle Stour from Hammoon to Sturminster Marshall.
2024 had the most warnings (7). The most recent warning was on 26 January 2026.
Show the 5 warning and alert areas
| Area | Kind | Since 2006 | Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Stour from Hammoon to Sturminster Marshall | Warning area | 45 | None |
| Groundwater flooding in the West of Dorset | Warning area | 0 | None |
| Middle Stour at Sturminster Marshall | Warning area | 0 | None |
| Middle Stour and tributaries | Alert area | 92 | None |
| Lower Stour and tributaries | Alert area | 57 | 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.
Sturminster Marshall is in the lowest radon band
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).
Every 1 km square over Sturminster Marshall is in the lowest band: fewer than 1 in 100 homes are expected to be above the action level.
BGS/UKHSA Indicative Atlas of Radon in Great Britain, version 3. Check an address at UKradon.org.
Flood risk in the places around Sturminster Marshall
Share of homes at high or medium and at low risk from rivers and the sea. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | High or medium | Low | Hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturminster Marshall | 1,504 | 4.9% | 15% | D |
| Lytchett Matravers | 3,455 | 0% | 0% | A |
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | 0% | 0% | A |
| Charlton Marshall | 1,084 | 0.2% | 1% | B− |
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 1.6% | 20% | C− |
| Upton | 8,401 | 0% | 0% | A |
| Merley | 5,489 | 0.3% | under 0.1% | B− |
| Pimperne | 2,770 | 0.7% | 2.7% | C+ |
Sturminster Marshall has more homes at high or medium risk than any neighbour in the table. Lytchett Matravers, Corfe Mullen and Upton have none.
Get ready for what Sturminster Marshall 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.
- Sturminster Marshall’s warning areas include Groundwater flooding in the West of Dorset and Middle Stour at Sturminster Marshall.
- 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.
- Never walk or drive through floodwater: 30 cm of moving water can float a car.
- Move valuables, papers and medicines upstairs.
- Turn off gas, electricity and water if you’re told to.
- 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.
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 Sturminster Marshall
Does Sturminster Marshall flood?
The last flood the Environment Agency recorded inside the village was in February 2009. 4.9% 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 1.2% of homes are at high or medium risk from surface water, when heavy rain overwhelms the drains. Sturminster Marshall grades D for hazard risk against UK towns.
Which parts of Sturminster Marshall are at risk of flooding?
From rivers and the sea, the places the Environment Agency warns directly: Middle Stour from Hammoon to Sturminster Marshall, Groundwater flooding in the West of Dorset and Middle Stour at Sturminster Marshall. Surface water can collect in low spots anywhere in the village. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s long-term flood risk service.
When did Sturminster Marshall last flood?
The recorded flood outlines inside the village run from 1979 to 2009 (3 years); the largest was in 1979. Flood warnings have been issued for parts of the village since 2006, most recently on 26 January 2026.
Is Sturminster Marshall at risk of surface water flooding?
About 0.9% of homes are at high risk and 0.2% at medium risk from surface water, against 4.9% 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 Sturminster Marshall?
Not by the atlas: every 1 km square over Sturminster Marshall is in the lowest band, where fewer than 1 in 100 homes are expected to be above the action level.
Are there flood warnings in Sturminster Marshall now?
No flood warning or alert was in force near Sturminster Marshall at 6 November 2026, 09:35. 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.