Groundwater flooding

BGS Datasets

Key information

Scale:
1:50 000
Coverage:
Great Britain
Availability:
Licensed
Format:
GIS polygon data (ESRI, MapInfo, others available by request)
Price:

£0.34 per km2. Subject to number of users, licence fee and data preparation fee.

Uses:
Local-level to regional-level use

Get Data

Supporting documents

In response to the need for more information on groundwater flooding, BGS has produced the first national dataset on the susceptibility of groundwater flooding, covering England, Wales and Scotland. Based on geological and hydrogeological information, the digital data can be used to identify areas where geological conditions could enable groundwater flooding to occur and where groundwater may come close to the ground surface.

Groundwater flooding is the emergence of groundwater at the ground surface. It can occur in a variety of geological settings including valleys in areas underlain by chalk, and in river valleys with thick deposits of alluvium and river gravels. Groundwater flooding happens in response to a combination of already high groundwater levels (usually during mid or late winter) and intense or unusually lengthy storm events. Groundwater flooding often lasts much longer than flooding caused by a river overflowing its banks. It may last many months and can cause significant social and economic disruption to the affected areas.

Download BGS Groundwater flooding sample maps

Thank you for your interest in our digital data. BGS is constantly reviewing and developing our suite of data products and we value feedback from users to ensure that we are meeting their needs. Understanding how our data is being used also helps us to tailor future development plans and verify that we are providing data in the correct formats.

Before you download the data, we would really appreciate some feedback on how you plan to use BGS Groundwater data. The information provided through this form is anonymous and will only be used by BGS and our partners to improve our products and services. It will be held securely and will not be used to identify any individual. For details on how we use your information, please view our privacy notice.

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