Policy paper

Planning stages to manage flood risk

Updated 18 May 2022

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preliminary-flood-risk-assessments-and-flood-risk-areas/preliminary-flood-risk-assessments-and-flood-risk-areas

Each stage of the planning cycle must be reviewed every 6 years and updated if required.

1. Preliminary flood risk assessments and flood risk areas

Preparing preliminary flood risk assessments and flood risk area maps is the first stage in a 6 year planning cycle to manage flood risk.

1.1 Preliminary flood risk assessments (PFRAs)

A PFRA is an assessment of floods that:

  • have taken place in the past
  • could take place in the future

The Environment Agency and lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) use PFRAs to identify areas that are at risk of flooding. These areas are called flood risk areas (FRAs).

PFRA for main rivers, the sea and reservoirs

The Environment Agency is responsible for the PFRA and identifying flood risk areas in England for:

  • main rivers
  • the sea
  • reservoirs

Read the PFRA report for main rivers, sea and reservoirs in England.

PFRAs for local sources of flood risk

LLFAs are responsible for the PFRA and identifying FRAs for local sources of flood risk in their administrative areas. Local sources of flood risk are:

  • surface water
  • groundwater
  • ordinary watercourses

There are 152 LLFAs in England. Their PFRAs are grouped by river basin district. The 10 river basin districts include:

See a map of the river basin districts.

Dee and Severn River Basin District LLFA PFRAs

The Dee and Severn River Basin Districts lie partly in England and partly in Wales.

Information for the English part of the Dee River Basin District is in the PFRAs for:

You can view information for all the PFRAs in the English part of the Severn River Basin District.

You can find information about flood risk planning in Wales on the Natural Resources Wales website.

Solway Tweed River Basin District LLFA PFRAs

Most of the Solway Tweed River Basin District is in Scotland.

You can find information about flood risk planning in Scotland on the SEPA website.

The English parts of the Solway Tweed River Basin District are the:

  • Eden, Waver and Wampool catchments, which drain into the Solway Firth
  • River Till in the River Tweed catchment

Information on these areas is included in the LLFA PFRAs for:

1.2 Flood risk areas

The Environment Agency identify flood risk areas for rivers and the sea. We do this by using the preliminary flood risk assessment published in 2018. LLFAs identify FRAs for local sources of flood risk through their PFRAs.

The PFRA shows the potential risk of flooding from rivers and the sea, and surface water for:

  • people
  • the economy
  • the environment, including cultural heritage

For each flood risk area, the Environment Agency or LLFA must prepare:

  • a flood hazard map and a flood risk map
  • a flood risk management plan (FRMP)

2. Mapping flood hazard and risk

Flood hazard maps show the probability or likelihood of flooding occurring in a location.

View the long term flood risk information to see the likelihood of flooding in a particular area or postcode.

Flood risk maps show what is potentially at risk of flooding such as:

  • people
  • the economy
  • the environment, including cultural heritage

The Environment Agency and LLFAs use the flood hazard maps and flood risk maps to prepare the flood risk management plans (FRMPs). The maps must be reviewed and updated every 6 years.

The flood risk maps published in 2019 were used to prepare the FRMPs from 2021 to 2027.

3. Flood risk management plans

FRMPs set out how organisations, stakeholders and communities will work together to manage flood risk. They explain the risk of flooding from:

  • rivers
  • the sea
  • surface water
  • groundwater
  • reservoirs
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