Guidance

Rapid Flood Guidance: information and user guide

Published 16 April 2026

Applies to England and Wales

1. Overview

Summary

The Rapid Flood Guidance (RFG) service is available between May and October. It provides:

• an advisory badge on the front page of the Flood Guidance Statement (FGS) for days when there is a heightened risk of rapid flooding
• RFG updates that will be issued on heightened risk days - when additional information on development of weather features that could result in rapid flooding become available

The RFG updates:

• provide information at a smaller scale than the FGS
• should be read in conjunction with the FGS

It is designed for responders who need to make decisions at a timescale of 0 to 3 hours.

The RFG updates do not give:

• information about specific rivers or local features
• guidance on what actions to take
• information to the public

Definition of rapid flooding

For the purposes of the RFG service, rapid flooding is defined as any flooding:

• that starts within 3 hours of rain
• is caused by water getting trapped in urban low spots, overflowing drains, and flow from small streams and rivers

Contacting the FFC

To discuss the content of the RFG you should contact the FFC directly on 0330 135 4400.

The FFC operates a 365 day, 24 hour service.

Environment Agency local incident teams will not have any additional information relating to the Rapid Flood Guidance

Roles and Responsibilities

The RFG service does not:

• alter any of the existing responsibilities for managing surface water flooding
• change the way the Environment Agency responds to surface water flooding incidents

2. Signing up

You can sign up to the RFG service by email and text message directly from the FFC.

Sign up now through your Flood Guidance Statement account.

The RFG can also be accessed (without email or text notifications) through the Met Office’s Hazard Manager.

If you signed up for the 2024 or 2025 service, you will automatically be registered for future years.

Personal information for all users is managed in line with the Met Office privacy policy.

Rapid Flood Guidance product by email and text

Signing up for the RFG by email allows you to:

• receive the RFG updates as a PDF into your inbox as soon as they are issued
• select which local authority areas in England and Wales you are interested in
• opt into for the RFG text message service – this will send a notification and link to your mobile device each time the guidance is updated

You need to sign up to receive the RFG by email, even if you are already signed up for the FGS.

Sign up now through your Flood Guidance Statement account.

Rapid Flood Guidance on Hazard Manager

If you already have access to the FGS on Hazard Manager, you will be able to download the RFG as a PDF without further signup.  

This is done from the RFG icon on the left-hand menu bar.

Hazard Manager does not provide email or text notifications.

3. Providing feedback

We welcome your views on the service at any time it is running.

You can also provide feedback via the links on:

• the RFG cover email
• on the footer of the RFG update

4. Training and support

Further support to help you understand FFC services include:

• short training videos
• drop in webinars
• bespoke training and materials for your organisation

Find out more about FFC training and resources.

5. Service features

Rapid Flood Guidance advisory badge

During the RFG service period, the FGS will have:

• an advisory badge on the front page for days when there is a heightened risk of rapid flooding

This will be shown under the thumbnail maps on the:

• FGS email
• FGS PDF

Figure 1 shows an example of an exercise FGS with the RFG badge added to the headline maps for days 1 and 2 (Monday and Tuesday).

The badge is not currently available on the Hazard Manager version of the FGS.

Rapid Flood Guidance PDF

Figure 2 shows the front page of an exercise RFG product including:

• header
• definition bar
• flood summary bar
• latest update, with map and text
• footer with useful links and page number

Header

At the top, shows the issue date and issue time. 

Due to the nature of the product, it is not possible to show the next issue time. 

The RFG status is shown under the issue time. This is blank apart from:

• when no further updates are expected for the day (status - Final update)
• a correction (status - Correction)
• an RFG test (status - Test)
• an RFG exercise (status - Exercise) 

Definition bar

Under the header, contains a definition of rapid flooding used by the service.

Flood summary bar

Under the definition bar, the headline bar contains:

• the heading ‘National rapid flood summary’
• a summary (headline) statement describing all areas of rapid flood risk, rain, and, where relevant, how they are developing - there will be a new statement for each update
• a thumbnail map showing the national overview of locations where rapid flood guidance has been issued during the day - these locations will be identified by a numbered, purple polygon surrounded by a dashed line

Latest update

The latest rapid flood update will appear at the top of the feed in a bold box with the title ‘Latest update’.

Other current updates

When a new update is issued, previous updates move down the page and are shown under ‘Other current updates.’   

Other current updates only describe active events (areas of rain that continue to pose a flood risk).

Expired events (areas of rain that have eased or stopped) are removed from the page.    

Update heading

Each update has a heading which includes:

• polygon number
• the time and date the update was issued

When a polygon area changes (because rain has spread or moved) the polygon that it replaces will be identified in this heading.

Example

The first update would have the heading:

At 09:00hrs there is an area of heavy rain affecting the east of the Midlands (polygon 1).

Then at 10:00hrs when this area of rain has moved the next update would have the heading:

Polygon 1 - (replaces the 09:00hrs update). Updated at 10:00hrs 23 Feb 2024.

Update map

The update map shows:

• a shaded polygon showing where there is potential for rapid flooding now or in the update period
• arrows showing the direction of movement or spreading of the rainfall

Update text

The map is supplemented with text on the right-hand side which gives details about:

• how areas of rain have developed or changed since the previous update
• a description of what is happening now
• an estimation and likelihood of rainfall depth, and the flood risk this poses - FGS descriptions of significant or severe flooding are given
• the type(s) of area(s) that could be affected

Useful links

At the bottom of the updates, you can find links to the:

• feedback form
• RFG service user guide
• Hazard Manager
• latest FGS
• flood warnings in England
• flood warnings in Wales

Footer

At the bottom of each page there is:

• a brief product description
• contact details for the duty hydrometeorologist