Flood Risk Assessment in Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray grew up around the point where the River Eye meets Scalford Brook and Thorpe Brook, and where the three combine to form the River Wreake. That confluence sits at the heart of the town, which is why a flood risk assessment in Melton Mowbray has to weigh river behaviour before almost anything else. We prepare flood risk assessments in Melton Mowbray for planning, property purchase, mortgage and insurance, and BREEAM, alongside sequential and exception tests and surface-water drainage strategies (SuDS).

Get a no-obligation, free quote — contact one of our experienced flood risk consultants on 01293 214444 or enquiries@unda.co.uk, and we'll come back to you within 60 minutes.

In January 2025, Leicestershire Police named Melton Mowbray, alongside Rutland and South Leicestershire, as one of the worst-hit places in the East Midlands floods — part of an event that put roughly 900 properties under water and forced a major incident across the whole county.

• Main watercourses. The River Eye, Scalford Brook and Thorpe Brook, which join in the town centre to form the River Wreake.
• Dominant risk. Fluvial (river) flooding at the confluence, with surface water the main secondary risk across the wider town.
• Flood defence. The Brentingby flood storage scheme, built to a 1-in-100-year standard, holding back the Eye upstream of the town.
• Authorities. Leicestershire County Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority; Melton Borough Council is the local planning authority.
• Most recent major event. A major incident across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, declared on 6 January 2025.

Check flood risk anywhere in Melton Mowbray

Enter any postcode below to see the Environment Agency's modelled flood risk for that address — rivers and the sea, surface water, reservoirs and the flood zone for planning — plus live flood warnings and the 2070–2125 climate change outlook. The Melton district is outlined in coral so you can see exactly where a postcode sits within it.

Flood risk in Melton Mowbray: the Eye, the Wreake and surface water

Melton Mowbray's flood risk starts with its geography. The River Eye arrives from the south-west, Scalford Brook and Thorpe Brook join it inside the town, and the combined flow leaves as the River Wreake, heading on through Asfordby, Frisby on the Wreake, Brooksby, Thrussington and Ratcliffe on the Wreake before it meets the River Soar at Syston. Fluvial flooding at that confluence is the dominant risk, with surface water a close second across the wider town, and fine sediment washed off surrounding agricultural fields has long been recognised as a factor in how quickly the Eye's channel fills after heavy rain.

Land closest to the confluence is largely mapped as Flood Zone 3, and that pattern does not disappear just because a site sits further out. As we set out in our piece on whether flood maps are accurate, a national dataset like the Flood Map for Planning is built to one consistent method across the whole of England, so it can flag risk somewhere on a plot without telling you whether a specific building will actually take in water — which is exactly why a site-specific flood risk assessment, rather than the map alone, is what a planning authority or lender will want to see. Anyone wanting a first look at a specific address can also use our free flood risk map or check current conditions on our live river levels map.

A history of flooding in Melton Mowbray

Flooding is not new to Melton Mowbray. Records date back to 1828, and the town has flooded on average once every five to six years since, with the most severe recorded events in 1852, 1875, 1880, 1882, 1897, 1900, 1922, 1932, 1954, 1974 and 1975 — a pattern that continued at Easter 1998 and again, most seriously in recent memory, in January 2025.

• Easter 1998. The River Eye burst its banks in what was assessed as a 1-in-50-year storm, flooding 164 properties across the town centre and prompting the flood alleviation scheme described below.
• 6–8 January 2025. Heavy rainfall pushed record river levels through Leicestershire and Rutland. The Environment Agency issued a rare severe "danger to life" flood warning, a major incident was declared across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, 87 people were rescued from properties and cars, and Leicestershire Police named Melton Mowbray, Rutland and South Leicestershire as the worst-hit areas, with 55 properties flooded in Melton Borough alone against roughly 900 across the whole county.
• February 2026. Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland recorded their second-wettest February on record, with 125.5mm of rain — the wettest since 1977 — a reminder that the conditions behind the January 2025 flood have not gone away.

The same drought-to-flood "whiplash" pattern we cover in our piece on why the UK gets floods in a drought applies here: a dry spell that bakes farmland around the Eye and Wreake catchments can leave the ground less able to absorb the next heavy downpour, so a quiet season is not the same as a low-risk one.

The Brentingby flood storage scheme — and its limits

Following the 1998 flood, the Environment Agency, Melton Borough Council and local businesses built flood storage upstream of the town at Brentingby: a 550-metre clay dam and embankments, work starting in August 2001 and costing £6.7 million, holding back the River Eye to a 1-in-100-year standard of protection and protecting around 650 homes and businesses.

• What it does. Attenuates the River Eye upstream of the confluence, releasing flow at a controlled rate rather than letting it surge straight through the town centre.
• A standard, not a guarantee. Built to a 1-in-100-year standard of protection, so flow beyond that standard, a defence overtopping, or water arriving from Scalford Brook, Thorpe Brook or surface water can still flood the town — as January 2025 demonstrated.
• Why the map can still say Flood Zone 3. A property behind the scheme can still appear within Flood Zone 3 on the Environment Agency's maps, because the Flood Map for Planning shows risk as if the defence were not there.
• Residual risk. The gap between "defended" and "safe" is what we call residual flood risk, and it is exactly why a site-specific flood risk assessment still matters here, defences or not.

Planning and drainage policy for a Melton Mowbray site

Two authorities matter for a Melton Mowbray development. Leicestershire County Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority, responsible for surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses; Melton Borough Council is the local planning authority that determines the application against its Local Plan and Strategic Flood Risk Assessment.

• Lead Local Flood Authority. Leicestershire County Council, which publishes the county's Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (first issued 2015, updated 2024) and investigates significant flooding under Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
• Local planning authority. Melton Borough Council, whose Local Plan evidence base includes a Level 1 and 2 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment prepared by JBA Consulting, completed in 2015 and carried forward by a September 2016 addendum.
• Regional oversight. The Trent Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, which the Environment Agency must consult on flood and coastal risk investment across the county.
• Drainage scrutiny. As LLFA, Leicestershire County Council reviews surface-water drainage strategies for discharge rates and the SuDS hierarchy alongside Melton Borough Council's own planning conditions.
• Sequential Test. Most relevant to sites proposed close to the Eye/Wreake confluence, which remain mapped at Flood Zone 3 even with the Brentingby scheme in place, as explained in our guide to when you need a flood risk assessment.

Development and flood risk assessment in Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray's development pipeline mixes town-centre regeneration close to the Eye/Wreake confluence, edge-of-town housing allocations from the borough's Local Plan, and rural conversions in the Wreake valley villages downstream — each with a different flood risk and drainage answer.

• Town-centre and riverside sites. Closest to the Eye/Wreake confluence, most likely to sit in Flood Zone 2 or 3 and to need a full flood risk assessment, and in places a Sequential Test.
• Edge-of-town allocations. Often screen as Flood Zone 1, but the Flood Map for Planning increasingly flags Flood Zone 1 land at risk of surface water, which on its own can trigger the need for an assessment.
• Wreake valley villages. Asfordby, Frisby on the Wreake, Brooksby, Thrussington and Ratcliffe on the Wreake see low-lying land and roads flood periodically from the river, relevant to agricultural conversions and riverside development.
• Extensions and change of use. Even a modest extension can need an assessment if the site already sits in Flood Zone 2 or 3, or where the council has flagged known local drainage problems.

How Unda helps with a flood risk assessment in Melton Mowbray

Our flood risk consultants have prepared assessments and drainage strategies across Leicestershire's river valleys, including the Eye, Wreake and Soar catchments, and bring that experience of local hydrology and planning policy to every Melton Mowbray site.

You can read more about the team behind that experience on our About Unda page, and see where our flood risk consultants have shared their expertise in the wider industry on Unda in the Media.

Flood risk assessments for every situation in Melton Mowbray

We prepare flood risk assessments in Melton Mowbray for planning, for property purchase and mortgage lending, for insurance, and for BREEAM, alongside sequential and exception tests and surface-water drainage strategies (SuDS). A flood risk assessment, a sequential or exception test and a drainage strategy are three distinct reports. They often travel together in a planning submission, but they answer different questions: is the site safe, should the development be here, and where does the surface water go.

• Flood risk assessment for planning. The core report submitted with a planning application, assessed against the NPPF and its Planning Practice Guidance.
• Flood risk survey for property purchase. An independent homebuyer flood risk survey where conveyancing has flagged a Melton Mowbray property.
• Flood risk assessment for insurance. Property-specific evidence for insurers, brokers and underwriters when premiums or cover are in question.
• Flood risk assessment for BREEAM. A report structured for BREEAM Pol 03 credits on certified developments.
• Sequential and Exception Test reports. The locational tests that sit alongside an FRA where flood zone policy applies.
• Surface-water drainage strategy (SuDS). Investigating how a Melton Mowbray site's runoff is managed under the SuDS hierarchy.
• Groundwater flood risk assessment. A specialist look at the source national maps miss, folded into the wider groundwater assessment where the geology warrants it.
• Flood modelling. Site-specific hydraulic modelling where mapping alone cannot pin down flood levels near the Eye or Wreake.
• Discharge of drainage conditions. The detailed scheme needed to discharge a drainage planning condition once permission is granted.
• Preliminary drainage design. An early read on drainage issues for outline applications, before they affect site layout.

For designers and engineers working up a SuDS scheme on the clay-influenced ground around Melton Mowbray, our free geology and ground conditions checker, drainage calculators and BRE 365 infiltration rate calculator give a fast first read before a trial pit is dug.

Local flood risk management and emergency contacts in Melton Mowbray

If a Melton Mowbray site or property is at risk, responsibility is shared between several official bodies: Leicestershire County Council manages local flood risk, the Environment Agency manages the Eye and the Wreake as main rivers, and Severn Trent Water manages the sewers. In an emergency, call 999 for danger to life or 105 for a power cut.

• Danger to life. Call 999 immediately in a flood emergency.
• Power cut. Call 105, free, to reach your electricity network operator.
• Flood warnings. Sign up to the River Wreake at Melton Mowbray warning area and check the Flood Map for Planning for a specific site.

Flood risk assessment in Melton Mowbray: frequently asked questions

For flood risk elsewhere in the county, see our flood risk assessment in Leicestershire hub, or our page on flood risk assessment in Rutland, Melton Mowbray's neighbour and fellow worst-hit area in January 2025. You can also browse every location we cover on the flood risk assessments by area hub, or read our guidance on the NPPF and flood risk and on what a flood risk consultant does.