Flooding and land in Emsworth
Figures last changed 20 October 2026. House prices for Emsworth are on the main Emsworth page.
On this page: Does Emsworth flood? · Will Emsworth flood more in future? · How often does Emsworth get flood warnings? · Is the coast at Emsworth eroding? · Are there old landfill sites near Emsworth?
Does Emsworth flood?
From rivers and the sea, parts of it can. Seven of Emsworth's 300 postcodes have their centre point inside Environment Agency flood zone 3, the highest band, and seven 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), 90 of the 300 postcodes (30%) 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 Emsworth 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, 13 of Emsworth's 300 postcodes have their centre point at high or medium risk today, and 20 under the scenario, which runs to the 2050s with sea level rise to 2065; at high risk alone, eight today and 19 then. From heavy rain, 90 have high or medium risk within 25 metres today, and 109 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 Emsworth get flood warnings?
The Environment Agency issued a flood warning for part of Emsworth on eleven days in the ten years to June 2026, most recently on 18 February 2026. 20 of its 300 postcodes sit inside three Agency flood warning areas: "Langstone and Emsworth" (Langstone Harbour, Emsworth Harbour), with warnings on nine days; "West Brook at Emsworth", on one; and "Westbourne, Lumley and Emsworth on the River Ems", on one. 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 71 days in that time, most recently on 5 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.
Is the coast at Emsworth eroding?
Not where homes are, on current plans. The shoreline plan for the 3.1 km of coast within 500 metres of Emsworth's postcodes is to hold the line, keeping the existing defences, through to 2105. None of its postcodes has its centre point in land the Environment Agency's erosion map expects to be lost by 2105, if that plan is carried out and with its higher central allowance for climate change.
Source: Environment Agency National Coastal Erosion Risk Map 2024.
Are there old landfill sites near Emsworth?
Yes. The Environment Agency's record of historic landfill sites shows three within 500 metres of an Emsworth postcode, and four of its 300 postcodes (1%) have their centre point on one or within 250 metres of it. The one closest to most postcodes is East of Church Hall, which took industrial and inert waste such as soil and rubble in 1986. The others are Southleigh Forest and Emsworth Yacht Harbour. 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 300 postcodes in Emsworth. How these figures are made.