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Royal Tunbridge Wells High StreetPhoto: DS Pugh · CC BY-SA 2.0
B−Hazard risk Grade
Flood & hazards in Royal Tunbridge Wells · Environment Agency

Surface water, more than the river, is Royal Tunbridge Wells’s flood risk: 5.2% of homes, against 0.1% from rivers or the sea

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 Royal Tunbridge Wells at B−: #40 of 87 in Kent.

0flood warnings since 20060.6%at low risk
In brief

What stands out about Royal Tunbridge Wells’s hazards

From the Environment Agency’s maps and records and the BGS radon atlas, below.

Rain, more than the river5.2% of homes sit where heavy rain can flood the streets, against 0.1% at risk from rivers and the sea.No flood warning since 2006The Environment Agency has 1 warning area in Royal Tunbridge Wells and hasn’t had to issue a flood warning for it.Low radonEvery 1 km square over Royal Tunbridge Wells is in the lowest radon band: under 1% of homes above the action level.
By hazard

What Royal Tunbridge Wells faces

Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.

Rivers and the sea

0.1%of homes at high or medium risk
Fewer than the typical UK town · more than 46% of towns
34 homes by the EA’s own count

Surface water

5.2%of homes at high or medium risk
More than 71% of UK towns
Rivers and sea: 0.1%

Flood warnings

0flood warnings since 2006
111 flood alerts for the wider area
Never warned

Radon

0%of the town in a radon Affected Area
Highest band here: Under 1% of homes
No square of 5% or more
Not on this page: coastal erosion, subsidence and shrink-swell ground (the British Geological Survey licenses it), groundwater flooding and reservoir failure.
Hazard risk Grade

Royal Tunbridge Wells grades B− for hazard risk

Flood risk from rivers and the sea, against all UK towns.

Homes at high or medium flood risk (0.1%)Fewer than 54% of 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.

Flood map

Where the water goes in Royal Tunbridge Wells

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.

© OpenStreetMap contributors · EA NaFRA2
HighMediumLowrivers & seaHighMediumLowsurface waterRoyal Tunbridge Wells’s built-up area

The river and sea risk follows the River Medway. Surface-water risk is spread across the town, in dips, underpasses and along small streams, which is why more homes are exposed to it.

Rivers and the sea

0.1% of Royal Tunbridge Wells’s homes are at high or medium risk from rivers or the sea

The Environment Agency’s national map, allowing for defences. A further 0.6% are at low risk.

High riskunder 0.1%of homes · 1 in 30 a year or more8 homes, EA count
Medium risk0.1%of homes · 1 in 30 to 1 in 10026 homes, EA count
Low risk0.6%of homes · 1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000153 homes, EA count
Where Royal Tunbridge Wells sits among 3,735 UK towns
35%None
23%Under 0.5%Royal Tunbridge Wells
9%0.5–1%
11%1–2%
11%2–5%
5%5–10%
3%10–20%
2%20% +

Share of each UK town’s homes at high or medium risk from rivers and the sea. 35% of UK towns have none; Royal Tunbridge Wells has more than 46% of towns.

Towns its size: 38th of 138 from the fewest homes at risk
#TownPeopleHigh or med.
1Dudley West Midlands64,2770%
2Smethwick West Midlands56,3430%
3Bootle Merseyside53,7220%
…
36Sittingbourne Kent54,3850.1%
37Washington Tyne and Wear51,3180.1%
38Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent51,2150.1%
39Eastleigh Hampshire48,3550.2%
40Chorley Lancashire39,5390.2%
…
137West Molesey Surrey47,1447.2%
138Tonbridge Kent36,1367.9%

UK towns of 36,000 to 72,000 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.

Surface water

Heavy rain puts about 37.3 times as many Royal Tunbridge Wells 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.

Surface water5.2%
Rivers and the sea0.1%
0%7%14% of homes

About 3.3% of homes are at high risk of surface-water flooding (a 1 in 30 chance or more each year) and 2% at medium risk: roughly 1,170 households. A further 4.9% face a low risk from surface water. That is more than 71% of UK towns.

~1,170
households at high or medium risk
4.9%
of homes at low risk
71%
of UK towns have a smaller share
29,869
addresses read on the map

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.

Flood warnings

No flood warning or alert is in force for Royal Tunbridge Wells · 0 warnings in 20 years

The Environment Agency has 1 flood warning area and 2 alert areas reaching into the town; warnings since the service began in 2006.

Now: no flood warnings or alerts for Royal Tunbridge Wells (checked 10 November 2026, 23:42). Check for flooding on GOV.UK →
Warnings and alerts each year for areas in Royal Tunbridge Wells
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Flood warning (flooding expected)Flood alert (flooding possible)

None of Royal Tunbridge Wells’s 1 flood warning area has had a flood warning since the service began in 2006.

Show the 3 warning and alert areas
AreaKindSince 2006Now
Southborough Stream at TonbridgeWarning area0None
Upper River MedwayAlert area111None
Southborough StreamAlert area0None

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.

Radon

Royal Tunbridge Wells 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).

TQ5637: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5638: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5639: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5640: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5737: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5738: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5739: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5740: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5741: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5837: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5838: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5839: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5840: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5841: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5937: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5938: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5939: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5940: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5941: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ5942: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ6037: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ6038: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ6039: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ6040: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ6041: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ6042: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ6140: Under 1% of homes above the action levelTQ6141: Under 1% of homes above the action level© OpenStreetMap contributors · BGS/UKHSA
Under 1%
Share of the town’s area in each band
Under 1% of homes100%

Every 1 km square over Royal Tunbridge Wells 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.

Neighbours

Flood risk in the places around Royal Tunbridge Wells

Share of homes at high or medium and at low risk from rivers and the sea. Tap a town for its page.

Southborough: Hazard risk ARusthall and Langton Green: Hazard risk APembury: Hazard risk B−Groombridge: Hazard risk B−Tonbridge: Hazard risk DLeigh: Hazard risk AFive Oak Green: Hazard risk D−SouthboroughRusthall and Langton GreenPemburyGroombridgeTonbridgeLeighFive Oak GreenRoyal Tunbridge Wells
ABCD
TownPeopleHigh or mediumLowHazard
Royal Tunbridge Wells51,2150.1%0.6%B−
Southborough9,6320%0%A
Rusthall and Langton Green7,7830%0%A
Pembury5,7830.2%0.6%B−
Groombridge1,0770.3%under 0.1%B−
Tonbridge36,1367.9%3.9%D
Leigh1,1040%0%A
Five Oak Green1,43636%11%D−

Five Oak Green, 4.9 miles north-east, has the most homes at risk around Royal Tunbridge Wells (36% at high or medium). Southborough, Rusthall and Langton Green and Leigh have none.

Be ready

Get ready for what Royal Tunbridge Wells faces

Free warnings, what to do in a cloudburst, and what to check before you move.

Get the warnings
  • Sign up free for Environment Agency flood warnings by text, call or email.
  • Floodline: 0345 988 1188, 24 hours.
  • Royal Tunbridge Wells’s warning areas include Southborough Stream at Tonbridge.
Sign up ↗
In a cloudburst
  • 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.
When the river rises
  • 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.
Before you buy or rent in Royal Tunbridge Wells
  • 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.
How to read these numbers

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.
  • 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.

Check the long-term flood risk for an address on GOV.UK →

Questions about flooding and hazards in Royal Tunbridge Wells

Does Royal Tunbridge Wells flood?

0.1% 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 5.2% of homes are at high or medium risk from surface water, when heavy rain overwhelms the drains. Royal Tunbridge Wells grades B− for hazard risk against UK towns.

Which parts of Royal Tunbridge Wells are at risk of flooding?

From rivers and the sea, the places the Environment Agency warns directly: Southborough Stream at Tonbridge. Surface water can collect in low spots anywhere in the town. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s long-term flood risk service.

Is Royal Tunbridge Wells at risk of surface water flooding?

About 3.3% of homes are at high risk and 2% at medium risk from surface water, against 0.1% 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 Royal Tunbridge Wells?

Not by the atlas: every 1 km square over Royal Tunbridge Wells 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 Royal Tunbridge Wells now?

No flood warning or alert was in force near Royal Tunbridge Wells at 10 November 2026, 23:42. 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 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.