Flood Action Week:
sign up for warnings, then close the gap they leave

Published 9 October 2026  ·  A RISE update  ·  4–5 minute read

Flood Action Week is the Environment Agency's yearly campaign asking households to get ready for flooding. This year it runs from Monday 12 October. The Agency gave the dates in a press release on 7 October about testing the flood defences at Northwich in Cheshire, where it repeated its headline figure: around 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are at risk from rivers, the sea or surface water.

It lands in a strange year. England is still in drought. On 2 October the Agency and Defra said most of England's reservoirs were classed as notably or exceptionally low, that September was the sixth month of 2026 with below-average rainfall, and that soils are still very dry. The same release said El Niño puts the UK at a slightly greater risk of a wet, stormy autumn, and that drought and flooding can happen at the same time. We explained why dry ground makes heavy rain worse in After the Hottest Summer on Record.

The gap in the flood warning service

Signing up for flood warnings is free. You choose a phone call, a text or an email, and the service covers flooding from rivers, the sea and, depending on your area, groundwater. GOV.UK is plain about what it leaves out: “You cannot get flood warnings for surface water flooding”.

That matters because surface water is the bigger risk by number. The Agency's national flood risk assessment puts around 4.6 million properties in areas at risk from surface water, against around 2.4 million for rivers and the sea. About 750,000 are at risk from both. Surface water flooding is what happens when there is so much rain that it overwhelms the drains and runs over the ground. It can reach a street with no river anywhere near it.

So no warning does not mean no risk. It may only mean your risk is the kind the service does not cover. Our long read, The Cinderella of Flooding, sets out why surface water gets so little attention.

Six things to do this week

1. Sign up anyway. If any part of your risk comes from a river, the sea or groundwater, the warning is worth having. Use Get flood warnings on GOV.UK, or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188, which is open 24 hours a day.
2. Find out which kind of risk you have. The GOV.UK long term flood risk check shows an area's risk from rivers and the sea, surface water, reservoirs and, where there is data, groundwater. Read the surface water result on its own. The service describes an area, not your individual home, so treat it as a starting point.
3. Use weather warnings as your surface water alert. The Met Office issues warnings for rain and for thunderstorms, and you can get them through its app or by email. In our view, a rain or thunderstorm warning for your area is the nearest thing to a surface water warning most households will get. The Check for flooding service also carries a five-day flood forecast for England.
4. Write a flood plan. The Environment Agency publishes a personal flood plan with checklists. GOV.UK suggests keeping your plan with essentials such as spare medication, important documents and contact details.
5. Learn how water moves on your street. In the next heavy shower, watch where it gathers and which way it runs. Photograph any blocked road drains and report them to the council in writing. If nothing happens, our guide to escalating a blocked drain report sets out the next steps.
6. Check your paperwork. Read your insurance schedule to see whether flood is covered and what the excess is. Photograph every room, so you have dated pictures from before any flood. If you have been refused flood cover, start with our page on flood insurance refused.

For a fuller list, organised by what keeps water out, what limits the damage and what gets you home faster, see the RISE Three-R Preparation Checklist.

Where RISE fits

RISE is an independent flood recovery advisory for homeowners. We are not an insurer or a broker, and we do not recommend insurance products. We work with homeowners in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire who have flooded or expect to.

If your home has flooded before and you want to know where you stand with your council, the RISE Section 19 Case Assessment is £250, delivered to your inbox. If water is rising as you read this, go to our emergency page.

Sources: Environment Agency, Getting winter ready: Northwich defences put to the test (GOV.UK, 7 October 2026). Defra and Environment Agency, England's reservoirs continue to feel drought strain after sixth dry month of 2026 (GOV.UK, 2 October 2026). GOV.UK, Get flood warnings by text, phone or email, Check the long term flood risk for an area in England and Prepare for flooding (all read 9 October 2026). Environment Agency, National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024 (published 17 December 2024, updated 5 August 2026). Environment Agency, Personal flood plan (updated 15 November 2023). Met Office, weather warnings guide (read 9 October 2026).