Flooding and health: national study
A study to help Public Health England (PHE) understand the impact of flooding on health and wellbeing.
Aims
The study consisted of a questionnaire sent once a year to people living in certain areas affected by flooding in the winters of 2013 to 2014 and 2014 to 2015, for up to 3 years after the flooding event.
The study aimed to help PHE to:
- understand how communities were affected by the storms and floods
- know what the effects are on people’s health and daily living
- determine how long the impact on health lasts
The results from the study were intended to help PHE plan for the impact on people of future severe weather events, so that PHE could help communities recover more quickly.
The study team
PHE, then an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), coordinated the study.
The flooding study team included university researchers from:
Participants
The study team contacted residents in flood-affected areas from 6 local authority areas of England which were:
- Gloucestershire
- Wiltshire
- Somerset
- Kent
- Surrey
- Cumbria
Everyone in the household aged 18 or over was eligible to complete our questionnaire. Households were contacted again annually for 3 years to repeat some of the questions so that PHE could track the long-term effects of severe weather on people’s health.
Results
PHE found that flooding can have a significant negative impact on the mental health of people whose homes are flooded as well as people whose lives are disrupted by flooding. This impact on mental health persisted for at least 3 years.
PHE produced a report on its results that was shared with the main government organisations with responsibility in this area, including the DHSC and the Environment Agency.
A copy of the report and a summary of the main findings are available in the Publications section below. PHE published some of its results in medical journals.
For more information, please contact the study team by:
- email: flooding.study@phe.gov.uk
- telephone: 0345 504 8668 (select option 2)
Publications
Further information
You can get more information about flooding from:
- the UK Health Security Agency’s Flooding: health guidance and advice
- National Flood Forum
- Find out if you’re at risk of flooding in England
- Flood warnings for England
- Flood Re, a joint initiative between the government and insurers that aims to make the flood cover part of household insurance policies more affordable
Updates to this page
Last updated 14 August 2020 + show all updates
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Updated to reflect that the study is now closed and data is being analysed. Includes brief summary of results to date.
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Added summary of the evidence generated to date.
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Added documents about the first year report.
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First published.