Photo: Richard Harvey · CC BY-SA 2.0 ukNo home in Lepton is at high or medium risk from rivers or the sea, but surface water reaches 0.6%
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, Lepton grades B+: #15 of 91 in West Yorkshire.
What stands out about Lepton’s hazards
From the Environment Agency’s maps and records and the BGS radon atlas, below.
What Lepton 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 Fenay Beck
Flood warnings
Radon
Lepton grades B+ 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 Lepton
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.
No home in Lepton is in the high or medium band for rivers or the sea. Surface-water risk is spread across the town, in dips, underpasses and along small streams, which is why more homes are exposed to it.
0% of Lepton’s homes are at high or medium risk from rivers or the sea
The Environment Agency’s national map, allowing for defences. A further 0.3% 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.
| # | Town | People | High or med. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Baddesley Hampshire | 6,996 | 0% | |
| 2 | Chipping Norton Oxfordshire | 6,991 | 0% | |
| 3 | Market Warsop Nottinghamshire | 6,970 | 0% | |
| … | ||||
| 95 | Sedgefield County Durham | 4,979 | 0% | |
| 96 | Billinge Merseyside | 4,963 | 0% | |
| 97 | Lepton West Yorkshire | 4,950 | 0% | |
| 98 | Shotton Colliery County Durham | 4,943 | 0% | |
| 99 | Barton-le-Clay Bedfordshire | 4,941 | 0% | |
| … | ||||
| 809 | Chapel St Leonards Lincolnshire | 3,435 | 66% | |
| 810 | Gilberdyke East Riding of Yorkshire | 3,028 | 70% | |
UK towns of 3,000 to 7,000 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.
0.6% of Lepton’s homes are at high or medium risk from surface water
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 0.3% of homes are at high risk of surface-water flooding (a 1 in 30 chance or more each year) and 0.3% at medium risk: roughly 20 households. A further 1.9% face a low risk from surface water. That is more than 6% 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.
Lepton has flooded in 1 recorded year since 1970
Every flood the Environment Agency has mapped inside Lepton’s built-up area, newest first. The record is fullest for big river floods; small and surface-water floods are often missing.
- 1970April 1970: River flooding recordedUnder 1 hectare inside today’s built-up area
90 of Lepton’s households today live inside the outline of a recorded flood.
The Fenay Beck at Fenay Bridge: highest 2.01 m, in June 2007
The highest level each winter (October to September) at the Environment Agency’s Fenay Bridge gauge (Fenay Bridge), since 2000. The river normally runs between 0.10 m and 1.75 m here.
- 25 June 20072.01 m
- 9 February 20201.93 m
- 15 June 20071.85 m
- 6 July 20121.81 m
- 21 January 20081.78 m
- 7 November 20191.72 m
The Fenay Beck has topped its normal range on 6 days since 2000, most in the winters of 2006–07 and 2007–08. By its highest day, the winter of 2025–26 was the 12th-highest of the 26.
Environment Agency Hydrology API, Fenay Bridge (station L1113), 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 Lepton · 11 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 11 warnings, 6 were for Woodsome Beck at Highburton and 5 for Fenay Beck at Fenay Bridge. 2015 had the most warnings (7); 2012 the most alerts (7).
The most recent warning was on 26 December 2015.
Show the 3 warning and alert areas
| Area | Kind | Since 2006 | Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodsome Beck at Highburton | Warning area | 6 | None |
| Fenay Beck at Fenay Bridge | Warning area | 5 | None |
| River Colne and Fenay Beck Catchments | Alert area | 39 | 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.
Lepton 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 Lepton 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 Lepton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lepton | 4,950 | 0% | 0.3% | B+ |
| Kirkburton | 4,033 | 0.7% | 1.8% | C+ |
| Kirkheaton | 3,492 | 0% | 0% | A |
| Grange Moor | 1,118 | 0% | 0% | A |
| Shelley | 2,696 | 0% | 0.5% | B+ |
| Flockton | 1,732 | 0.1% | 0.6% | B |
| Mirfield | 19,614 | 4.2% | 2.5% | D |
| Shepley | 2,515 | 0.6% | 1.9% | C+ |
Mirfield, 3.3 miles north, has the most homes at risk around Lepton (4.2% at high or medium). Kirkheaton, Grange Moor and Shelley have none.
Get ready for what Lepton 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.
- Lepton’s warning areas include Woodsome Beck at Highburton and Fenay Beck at Fenay Bridge.
- 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 Lepton
Does Lepton flood?
The last flood the Environment Agency recorded inside the town was in April 1970. 0% 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 0.6% of homes are at high or medium risk from surface water, when heavy rain overwhelms the drains. Lepton grades B+ for hazard risk against UK towns.
Which parts of Lepton are at risk of flooding?
From rivers and the sea, the places the Environment Agency warns directly: Woodsome Beck at Highburton and Fenay Beck at Fenay Bridge. 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 Lepton last flood?
The recorded flood outlines inside the town run from 1970 to 1970 (1 years); the largest was in 1970. Flood warnings have been issued for parts of the town since 2006, most recently on 26 December 2015.
Is Lepton at risk of surface water flooding?
About 0.3% of homes are at high risk and 0.3% at medium risk from surface water, against 0% 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 Lepton?
Not by the atlas: every 1 km square over Lepton 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 Lepton now?
No flood warning or alert was in force near Lepton at 9 November 2026, 11:04. 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.