Flooding and Adverse Weather

Preparing for Flooding

Check your flood risk - check if you're at risk of flooding.

If your home or business is at risk of flooding, you should make sure you have your own personal flood plan. The Environment Agency has a guide to help with preparing a personal flood plan.

Plan how you can stop flood water entering your property. Research different products on the National Flood Forum's Blue Pages. Don't just rely on sandbags as they aren't always available, or the most effective method.

Flood Warnings

Sign up and familiarise yourself with flood warning levels, so that you understand an event as it is unfolding:

Check the Flood warnings summary, which is updated regularly.

The differences between flood warnings and flood alerts is explained on Flood warning codes explained.

Our Sandbag Policy

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council is keen to encourage all residents and businesses in the borough to consider how they would protect their property from flood damage.

Local Authorities do not have a statutory duty to provide sandbags / a sandbag delivery service during flooding, and any service provided is purely discretionary.

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council does hold a limited number of sandbags. The Council may, in some circumstances, be able to provide sandbags to protect homes (not gardens, garages or outbuildings) in imminent danger of flooding. However, this will be dependent on the council having filled sandbags available, transport and staff to deliver them, and also the type of flooding (sandbags cannot protect against groundwater flooding as experienced in Ewell in recent years).

Householders are responsible for the disposal of sandbags after use.

Our Sandbag Protocol

Preparing for other Adverse Weather

A good  source of guidance to prepare for all types of Adverse Weather is the Met office Get Winter ready information.

 

Key Contacts

Environment Agency 

  • To Report a flood
  • Floodline: Check the current alert and warning status, and sign up for future automated notifications
  • Deployment of temporary defences and other strategic assets
  • Maintenance of structures on main rivers

Switchboard: 03708 506 506

EA Incident Line: 0800 80 70 60

Floodline: 0345 988 1188

www.gov.uk/environment-agency

www.gov.uk/check-flooding

https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/

 

Surrey Prepared 

  • Information and services on preparing your home, business and community for an emergency

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/community/emergency-planning-and-community-safety/emergency-planning/prepare-for-emergencies

 

Surrey County Council

  • Lead Flood Authority,
  • Surface water and
  • Ground water flooding management,
  • Highways management,
  • Social care and health information

Switchboard: 0300 200 1003

Flooded Highways: 0300 200 1003

Locality Team (social care): 01932 794800

Out of hours: 01483 517898

www.surreycc.gov.uk

Drainage and flooding

 

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council

  • Immediate sandbag requests
  • Welfare support

 

Thames Water

  • Sewage, flooded sewers and sewer cleaning

0800 316 9800

www.thameswater.co.uk

 

UK Power Network

  • Power cuts

For information in the event of a power cut see the UK Power Networks website or dial 105 for free to get directly through to your local network.

 

Other useful links