Water sitting against the house after the rain.

What this week’s rain is, and what it is not

The Environment Agency’s Flood Action Week ran from 12 to 18 October 2026. On 12 October, Defra published Flood Action Online, a single place to check flood risk and weather alerts in England, and said the government is investing £4.2 billion between last April and March 2029 in flood defences, with a target of 200,000 properties better protected. That money maintains and builds defences. It does not pay for a gutter on one house, and this site cannot apply for it.

On 13 October the same department said Flood Performance Certificates will be piloted, with the first pilots this year in areas at risk and more through 2027. A pilot certificate is an assessment of flood resilience. It is not a booking, and it is not open as an application on this page.

The Met Office national forecast, updated at 03:00 UTC on 19 October 2026, describes cloud and rain spreading north and west, with heavy showers in the southwest, then a wetter Tuesday. From Wednesday to Friday it expects unsettled weather, with gales and heavy rain possible on Thursday and Friday. The outlook from 23 October to 1 November stays changeable, with further rain and a risk of strong winds or gales. That is a national picture. It is not a statement that one street will flood.

On 11 September 2026 the Met Office said the chance of a warm, wet autumn was about one and a half to two times higher than usual, with El Niño expected to peak in winter. The same note says a seasonal outlook cannot name the day, the place, or the number of storms. Use it as background. Use today’s forecast, and the live flood service, for the house in front of you.

The Flood Forecasting Centre’s guidance statement at 10:30 on Sunday 18 October put the overall flood risk for England and Wales over the following five days at very low, with moderate surface-water impacts possible that Sunday in parts of Kent and Essex. The next statement was due at 10:30 on Monday 19 October. Read the live Flood Action page before you treat Sunday’s note as this afternoon’s risk. Check Met Office weather warnings the same way. A forecast of gales later in the week is a reason to stay off a ladder. It is not, by itself, a warning for your postcode.

If the water is already a danger

Environment Agency guidance for England says to call 999 when you are in immediate danger, including under a severe flood warning. The same guidance says to avoid walking, cycling or driving through flood water, and, when a flood warning is in force, to move people, pets and valuables to a safe place and to turn off gas, electricity and water only if it is safe.

This page does not describe a route through flood water, and it does not tell you how to pump a room out. If the gas was turned off because water reached the appliance, the person who works on it afterwards has to be on the Gas Safe register. Who that covers is in who can work on gas. This note does not relight anything.

Water leaving the gutter or the roof edge

Phone a roofer when rainwater is spilling from the gutter, shooting from a joint, missing the downpipe, or sheeting off the tiles onto the wall. Leaves in the gutter, a slipped stop-end, or a downpipe that has come apart are the usual reasons. You can see enough from a window or the pavement to describe it. The person who goes up is the roofer you book. Thursday and Friday may bring gales, so that look waits until you can make it from indoors.

Leaves, a plant or a sag, while the wall is still dry, are leaves sitting in the gutter now the wind has eased. Stay on this page when the water is already against the wall.

A length of gutter hanging off the wall after wind is a different fault, covered in a tile that looks out of place after the wind. A stain that then appears on a ceiling is a damp patch that appears after rain. A chemical damp course does not clear a gutter.

Open the roofing list, including London and Manchester. You phone, email, or use the website on the record. TrustMark on a card is shown only when that record already has it. This page has no call-out figure.

The Association of British Insurers says home insurance is not a maintenance contract. Lack of maintenance is a usual exclusion, and the example it gives is roof tiles left unrepaired so that the roof then leaks in a storm. The same guidance says guttering that is already falling off, if it was not disclosed, can leave a storm claim unpaid. Its storm note lists clearing gutters and drains as the upkeep that keeps a property in a good state of repair. An overflowing gutter full of leaves is a reason to phone a roofer. It is a weak reason to expect the insurer to fund the clear-out. If water has already damaged ceilings, plaster or contents, phone the insurer as well and let them say whether the policy responds.

Water arriving from the ground or the road

When the gutter is running and the water is still pooling against the air bricks, coming off the pavement, or standing in a hollow by the door, the roofer is the wrong first call. GOV.UK splits that report for England by the source:

• A blocked public drain, or a flooded road: the local council.
• A blocked sewer, or a burst water main: the water company.
• Flooding from a main river or the sea, a sudden change in river flow, a damaged river bank, or a concern at a reservoir or dam: the Environment Agency incident line, 0800 80 70 60, which is a 24-hour service. A blockage in a main river that is already causing flooding uses that same line.
• A small river, brook or stream, or groundwater rising through the ground: the local council.
• A private drain on the property: the owner.

If you rent, the private drain is still the owner’s. Tell the landlord, and keep a copy. A backup that is coming up through a household gully, a toilet or a basement drain, once the council and the water company are out of the picture, is a plumber. Open the plumbing and heating list, including London and Manchester. You make that call yourself.

Flood warnings in England cover rivers, the sea and groundwater. The same page says you cannot get them for surface water, sometimes called flash flooding. A phone that stays quiet during a downpour does not mean the road gully is clear, and it does not mean the water against the air bricks can wait.

If it has already come inside

Phone the insurer as soon as you can if the buildings or the contents may be covered. The ABI says most insurers have a 24-hour emergency helpline. Have the policy number to hand. Arrange a temporary repair only when that call is made, or when waiting would let the damage spread and it is safe to do so. Keep the photographs and the receipts. Keep damaged items unless they are a danger to health, because the insurer may want to see them. The ABI also says a flooded home can take weeks, and sometimes months, to dry, so redecorating waits for that advice.

This page cannot say the claim will be paid. The insurer decides from the policy, the weather, and whether the fault was already there.

Once it is safe to be in the room, the trades split the same way as the outside. A roofer for water that came from the gutter or the covering. A plumber for a private drain that backed up. If the water reached sockets or the consumer unit, leave them alone while the floor is still wet. The Environment Agency says the electricity goes off only if it is safe. Switching it back on is an electrician, on the electrical list, including London. New plaster waits until the wall is dry. If the water has left black mould on a cold wall, the landlord clocks for social housing in England are in black mould on a cold wall when the heating stays low.

A warning is a separate clock from a blocked gutter

In England the Environment Agency uses three messages. A flood alert means flooding is possible. A flood warning means flooding is expected, usually issued 30 minutes to 2 hours before. A severe flood warning means a danger to life and significant disruption. Follow the message for your area. A gutter that overflows in ordinary rain does not wait for one of those messages.

Sign up, or check the next five days, from Flood Action and from the warnings service. Floodline is 0345 988 1188, textphone 0345 602 6340, and the warnings page says that line can register a home in England, Scotland or Wales. Northern Ireland is directed to its own flood maps. This note does not copy those other services.