Photo: Martin Clark · CC BY-SA 2.0Stainforth is a river town: 63% of its homes are at high or medium risk from rivers or the sea, more than in 100% of UK towns
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, Stainforth grades D−.
What stands out about Stainforth’s hazards
From the Environment Agency’s maps and records and the BGS radon atlas, below.
What Stainforth 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 Green Dyke
Flood warnings
Radon
Stainforth 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 Stainforth
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 Don. Surface-water risk is patchier: dips, underpasses and small streams.
63% of Stainforth’s homes are at high or medium risk from rivers or the sea
The Environment Agency’s national map, allowing for defences. A further 1.1% 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; Stainforth has more than 100% of towns.
| # | Town | People | High or med. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Highworth Wiltshire | 7,932 | 0% | |
| 2 | Norton-on-Derwent North Yorkshire | 7,909 | 0% | |
| 3 | City of London London | 7,820 | 0% | |
| … | ||||
| 622 | Datchet Berkshire | 4,807 | 61% | |
| 623 | Howden East Riding of Yorkshire | 4,572 | 62% | |
| 624 | Stainforth South Yorkshire | 5,999 | 63% | |
UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 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.
Rivers and the sea, more than heavy rain, are Stainforth’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 1.9% of homes are at high risk of surface-water flooding (a 1 in 30 chance or more each year) and 2.8% at medium risk: roughly 130 households. A further 11% face a low risk from surface water. That is more than 66% 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.
Stainforth has flooded in 6 recorded years since 1947, most of all in 2007
Every flood the Environment Agency has mapped inside Stainforth’s built-up area, newest first. The record is fullest for big river floods; small and surface-water floods are often missing.
- 2021January 2021: River flooding recorded1 hectare inside today’s built-up area · January Flood Incident - Storm Christoph
- 2020February 2020: River flooding recordedUnder 1 hectare inside today’s built-up area · February Flood Incident - Storm Dennis
- 2019November 2019: River flooding recorded3 hectares inside today’s built-up area · November Flood Incident
- 2007June 2007: River flooding recorded9 hectares inside today’s built-up area · Flood (Ridings Area
- 2000November 2000: River flooding recorded3 hectares inside today’s built-up area
- 1947March 1947: River flooding recordedUnder 1 hectare inside today’s built-up area
Floodwater covered 9 hectares of what is now Stainforth in 2007, the largest flood the record holds here (June).
91 of Stainforth’s households today live inside the outline of a recorded flood.
Since 2007, the largest recorded flood inside the town covered 3 hectares.
The Green Dyke at Fishlake Woodhouse Ings (Temporary): highest 4.41 m, in October 2022
The highest level each winter (October to September) at the Environment Agency’s Fishlake Woodhouse Ings (Temporary) gauge (Fishlake Woodhouse Washland), since 2020. The river normally runs between 1.07 m and 2.50 m here.
- 22 October 20234.41 m
- 22 February 20223.89 m
- 30 October 20233.84 m
- 22 January 20213.59 m
- 6 November 20233.27 m
- 2 March 20223.16 m
The Green Dyke has topped its normal range on 49 days since 2020, most in the winters of 2023–24 and 2020–21. By its highest day, the winter of 2025–26 was the 6th-highest of the 6.
Environment Agency Hydrology API, Fishlake Woodhouse Ings (Temporary) (station L0942), 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 Stainforth · 10 warnings in 20 years
The Environment Agency has 2 flood warning areas and 1 alert area reaching into the town; warnings since the service began in 2006.
Of the 10 warnings, 6 were for River Don at Braithwaite and 4 for River Don at Stainforth. 2019 had the most warnings (4); 2012 the most alerts (6).
The most recent warning was on 6 January 2025.
Show the 3 warning and alert areas
| Area | Kind | Since 2006 | Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| River Don at Braithwaite | Warning area | 6 | None |
| River Don at Stainforth | Warning area | 4 | None |
| Lower River Don catchment | Alert area | 45 | 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.
Stainforth 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 Stainforth 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 Stainforth
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stainforth | 5,999 | 63% | 1.1% | D− |
| Dunscroft and Hatfield | 14,000 | 51% | 6.3% | D− |
| Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe | 13,090 | 16% | 7% | D− |
| Thorne | 12,303 | 11% | 5% | D− |
| Moorends | 5,194 | 37% | 36% | D− |
| Armthorpe | 14,161 | 0.4% | under 0.1% | C+ |
| Hatfield Woodhouse | 2,208 | 0% | 1.3% | B+ |
| Arksey | 1,578 | 9.5% | 27% | D |
Stainforth has more homes at high or medium risk than any neighbour in the table. Hatfield Woodhouse has none.
Get ready for what Stainforth 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.
- Stainforth’s warning areas include River Don at Stainforth and River Don at Braithwaite.
- 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 Stainforth
Does Stainforth flood?
The last flood the Environment Agency recorded inside the town was in January 2021. 63% 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 4.7% of homes are at high or medium risk from surface water, when heavy rain overwhelms the drains. Stainforth grades D− for hazard risk against UK towns.
Which parts of Stainforth are at risk of flooding?
From rivers and the sea, the places the Environment Agency warns directly: River Don at Braithwaite and River Don at Stainforth. 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 Stainforth last flood?
The recorded flood outlines inside the town run from 1947 to 2021 (6 years); the largest was in 2007. Flood warnings have been issued for parts of the town since 2006, most recently on 6 January 2025.
Is Stainforth at risk of surface water flooding?
About 1.9% of homes are at high risk and 2.8% at medium risk from surface water, against 63% 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 Stainforth?
Not by the atlas: every 1 km square over Stainforth 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 Stainforth now?
No flood warning or alert was in force near Stainforth at 5 November 2026, 06:27. 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.