Flooding and land in Chichester
Figures last changed 20 October 2026. House prices for Chichester are on the main Chichester page.
On this page: Does Chichester flood? · Will Chichester flood more in future? · How often does Chichester get flood warnings? · Are there old landfill sites near Chichester?
Does Chichester flood?
From rivers and the sea, parts of it can. 97 of Chichester's 1,128 postcodes have their centre point inside Environment Agency flood zone 3, the highest band, and 44 more sit in zone 2. These zones cover rivers and the sea only and ignore flood defences. Rain is a separate risk: on the Environment Agency's surface-water map (read 18 October 2026), 465 of the 1,128 postcodes (41%) have high or medium risk within 25 metres of their centre point. Groundwater isn't mapped in either, and a postcode is not a house: check an exact address on GOV.UK.
Source: Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning · Check an address for flood risk · What the flood zones leave out · New builds and Flood Re.
Will Chichester flood more in future?
Yes, noticeably more, on the Environment Agency's climate change scenario. Its long-term flood maps, unlike the flood zones above, count flood defences. From rivers and the sea, three of Chichester's 1,128 postcodes have their centre point at high or medium risk today, and 61 under the scenario, which runs to the 2050s with sea level rise to 2065. From heavy rain, 465 have high or medium risk within 25 metres today, and 598 under the scenario. High risk means at least a 1 in 30 chance of flooding in any year, and medium means between 1 in 100 and 1 in 30. The maps were read on 18 October 2026.
Source: Environment Agency long-term flood risk maps, today and with climate change.
How often does Chichester get flood warnings?
The Environment Agency issued a flood warning for part of Chichester on two days in the ten years to June 2026, most recently on 16 January 2023. 271 of its 1,128 postcodes sit inside two Agency flood warning areas: "Westhampnett on the River Lavant", with warnings on two days; and "Chichester on the River Lavant", with none. No severe flood warning, the level that means danger to life, was issued in that time. Flood alerts, the earlier message that flooding is possible, went out on eight days in that time, most recently on 2 February 2026. Warnings cover flooding from rivers and the sea, and groundwater in a few places, not heavy rain on its own. Each count is of days on which a new warning or alert went out, so updates on an event already running are not counted again.
Source: Environment Agency Historic Flood Warnings · Environment Agency flood warning and alert areas (real-time flood-monitoring API) · Sign up for free flood warnings.
Are there old landfill sites near Chichester?
Yes. The Environment Agency's record of historic landfill sites shows 18 within 500 metres of a Chichester postcode, and 257 of its 1,128 postcodes (23%) have their centre point on one or within 250 metres of it. The one closest to most postcodes is Railway Tip, which took industrial and inert waste such as soil and rubble between 1945 and 1960. Others include Florence Road, Arundel Park Estate and Beggars Lane, and 13 more. A historic landfill is an old tip with no environmental permit in force: one that closed before tips were licensed, or whose licence has since ended. The Agency says much of its record comes from a national survey in the early 1990s, so it may be incomplete, and some boundaries are only approximate. An old tip nearby does not by itself mean a problem; the council's contaminated land register, or a search on an exact address, says more.
Figures cover 1128 postcodes in Chichester. How these figures are made.