The Flood Map for Planning Service includes several layers of information. This includes the Flood Zones data which shows the extent of land at present day risk of flooding from rivers and the sea, ignoring the benefits of defences, for the following scenarios:

• Flood Zone 1 – Land having a less than 0.1% (1 in 1000) annual probability of flooding. • Flood Zone 2 – Land having between 0.1% - 1% (1 in 100 to 1 in 1000) annual probability of flooding from rivers or between 0.1% - 0.5% (1 in 200 to 1 in 1000) annual probability of flooding from the sea, and accepted recorded flood outlines . • Flood Zone 3 – Areas shown to be at a 1% (1 in 100) or greater annual probability of flooding from rivers or 0.5% (1 in 200) or greater annual probability of flooding from the sea.

Flood Zone 1 is not shown in this dataset, but covers all areas not contained within Flood Zones 2 and 3. Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) use the Flood Zones to determine if they must consult the Environment Agency on planning applications. They are also used to determine if development is incompatible and whether development is subject to the exception test. The Flood Zones are one of several flood risk datasets used to determine the need for planning applications to be supported by a Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) and subject to the sequential test.

The Flood Zones are a composite dataset including national and local modelled data, and information from past floods.

The Flood Zones are designed to only give an indication of flood risk to an area of land and are not suitable for showing whether an individual property is at risk of flooding. This is because we cannot know all the details about each property.

Users of these datasets should always check they are suitable for the intended use

A PDF map that shows the Regions in England, as at December 2017. (File Size - 226 KB)

PLEASE NOTE: This dataset has been retired. It has been superseded by https://environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/04532375-a198-476e-985e-0579a0a11b47. Links to this data will be removed after April 2025. We encourage users to download this Flood Zones dataset if you would like to retain a comparison ability beyond this date.

The Flood Map for Planning (Rivers and Sea) includes several layers of information. This dataset covers Flood Zone 3. It is our best estimate of the areas of land at risk of flooding, when the presence of flood defences are ignored and covers land with a 1 in 100 (1%) or greater chance of flooding each year from Rivers; or with a 1 in 200 (0.5%) or greater chance of flooding each year from the Sea.

This dataset is designed to support flood risk assessments in line with Planning Practice Guidance; and raise awareness of the likelihood of flooding to encourage people living and working in areas prone to flooding to find out more and take appropriate action.

The information provided is largely based on modelled data and is therefore indicative rather than specific.

Locations may also be at risk from other sources of flooding, such as high groundwater levels, overland run off from heavy rain, or failure of infrastructure such as sewers and storm drains.

The information indicates the flood risk to areas of land and is not sufficiently detailed to show whether an individual property is at risk of flooding, therefore properties may not always face the same chance of flooding as the areas that surround them. This is because we do not hold details about properties and their floor levels.

Information on flood depth, speed or volume of flow is not included.

The Access Network Map of England is a national composite dataset of Access layers, showing analysis of extent of Access provision for each Lower Super Output Area (LSOA), as a percentage or area coverage of access in England. The ‘Access Network Map’ was developed by Natural England to inform its work to improve opportunities for people to enjoy the natural environment. This map shows, across England, the relative abundance of accessible land in relation to where people live. Due to issues explained below, the map does not, and cannot, provide a definitive statement of where intervention is necessary. Rather, it should be used to identify areas of interest which require further exploration. Natural England believes that places where people can enjoy the natural environment should be improved and created where they are most wanted. Access Network Maps help support this work by providing means to assess the amount of accessible land available in relation to where people live. They combine all the available good quality data on access provision into a single dataset and relate this to population. This provides a common foundation for regional and national teams to use when targeting resources to improve public access to greenspace, or projects that rely on this resource. The Access Network Maps are compiled from the datasets available to Natural England which contain robust, nationally consistent data on land and routes that are normally available to the public and are free of charge. Datasets contained in the aggregated data:•
Agri-environment scheme permissive access (routes and open access)•
CROW access land (including registered common land and Section 16)•
Country Parks•
Cycleways (Sustrans Routes) including Local/Regional/National and Link Routes•
Doorstep Greens•
Local Nature Reserves•
Millennium Greens•
National Nature Reserves (accessible sites only)•
National Trails•
Public Rights of Way•
Forestry Commission ‘Woods for People’ data•
Village Greens – point data only Due to the quantity and complexity of data used, it is not possible to display clearly on a single map the precise boundary of accessible land for all areas. We therefore selected a unit which would be clearly visible at a variety of scales and calculated the total area (in hectares) of accessible land in each. The units we selected are ‘Lower Super Output Areas’ (LSOAs), which represent where approximately 1,500 people live based on postcode. To calculate the total area of accessible land for each we gave the linear routes a notional width of 3 metres so they could be measured in hectares. We then combined together all the datasets and calculated the total hectares of accessible land in each LSOA. For further information about this data see the following links:Access Network Mapping GuidanceAccess Network Mapping Metadata Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.

A PDF map that shows the Regions in England, as at December 2018. (File Size - 486 KB)

The ONS provides this data for the purposes of producing statistics.

This dataset provides a 1km resolution raster (gridded) coverage of wooded areas in riparian zones (river- or streamsides) across Great Britain. The areas classified as riparian in this dataset are defined by a 50 metre buffer applied to the CEH 1:50000 watercourse network. Wooded areas within this zone are identified as those classified by the Land Cover Map of Great Britain 2007 as either coniferous or deciduous woodland. The data are aggregated to a 1km resolution.

A PDF map that shows the health areas in England and Wales as at April 2013. The map shows the health geographies (clinical commissioning group, NHS area teams, and NHS commissioning regions) that became operative in England as at April 2013 and the local health boards in Wales. (File Size - 4 MB)

A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is the land designated under Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. Data supplied has the status of "Candidate". The data does not include "Possible" Sites. Boundaries are mapped against Ordnance Survey MasterMap.Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.

The Scotland Heat Map includes information on the percentage of households in each 2011 Data Zone that are renting their home from a council or a housing association (socially renting). Alongside other heat map datasets, this data is used to identify areas suitable for measures to reduce carbon emissions from heating homes and other buildings. For example, through the creation of heat networks. The 2011 Census provides the total number of households and the number of socially rented households in each 2011 Data Zone. Scotland's census is carried out by National Records of Scotland. Boundaries for Data Zones are created by the Scottish Government. Census data and Data Zone boundaries are updated approximately every 10 years. The Scotland Heat Map is a tool to help plan for the reduction of carbon emissions from heat in buildings. More information can be found in the documentation available on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotland-heat-map-documents/ The Scotland's Census website provides details on how the census is carried out and information on accessing publicly available census data, including geographical areas: https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/

PLEASE NOTE: This dataset has been retired. It has been superseded by https://environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/04532375-a198-476e-985e-0579a0a11b47. Links to this data will be removed after April 2025. We encourage users to download this Flood Zones dataset if you would like to retain a comparison ability beyond this date.

The Flood Map for Planning (Rivers and Sea) includes several layers of information. This dataset covers Flood Zone 2 and should not be used without Flood Zone 3. It is our best estimate of the areas of land at risk of flooding, when the presence of flood defences are ignored and covers land between Zone 3 and the extent of the flooding from rivers or the sea with a 1 in 1000 (0.1%) chance of flooding each year. This dataset also includes those areas defined in Flood Zone 3.

This dataset is designed to support flood risk assessments in line with Planning Practice Guidance ; and raise awareness of the likelihood of flooding to encourage people living and working in areas prone to flooding to find out more and take appropriate action.

The information provided is largely based on modelled data and is therefore indicative rather than specific. Locations may also be at risk from other sources of flooding, such as high groundwater levels, overland run off from heavy rain, or failure of infrastructure such as sewers and storm drains.

The information indicates the flood risk to areas of land and is not sufficiently detailed to show whether an individual property is at risk of flooding, therefore properties may not always face the same chance of flooding as the areas that surround them. This is because we do not hold details about properties and their floor levels. Information on flood depth, speed or volume of flow is not included.

This is a spatial dataset which defines the regions for the Living England Phase IV habitat classification. 14 regions were created in England to balance resource requirements and scalability. The regions are based on National Character Areas which are grouped such that each region is covered by a single European Space Agency Sentinel-2 satellite orbit (with the exception of Zone 10 in the SE which is covered by two orbits), and such that the regions are approximately similar in size.For more information about the Living England Habitat Map see the Living England Satellite-based habitat classification - Technical User Guide (NERR108): publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/4918342350798848 Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.

This is the ONS Postcode Directory (ONSPD) for the United Kingdom as at February 2024 in Comma Separated Variable (CSV) and ASCII text (TXT) formats. This file contains the multi CSVs so that postcode areas can be opened in MS Excel. To download the zip file click the Download button. The ONSPD relates both current and terminated postcodes in the United Kingdom to a range of current statutory administrative, electoral, health and other area geographies. It also links postcodes to pre-2002 health areas, 1991 Census enumeration districts for England and Wales, 2001 Census Output Areas (OA) and Super Output Areas (SOA) for England and Wales, 2001 Census OAs and SOAs for Northern Ireland and 2001 Census OAs and Data Zones (DZ) for Scotland. It now contains 2021 Census OAs and SOAs for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It helps support the production of area-based statistics from postcoded data. The ONSPD is produced by ONS Geography, who provide geographic support to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and geographic services used by other organisations. The ONSPD is issued quarterly. (File size - 231 MB) Please note that this product contains Royal Mail, Gridlink, LPS (Northern Ireland), Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.

This dataset contains gridded population with a spatial resolution of 1 km x 1 km for the UK based on Census 2011 and Land Cover Map 2007 input data. Data on population distribution for the United Kingdom is available from statistical offices in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland and provided to the public e.g. via the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Population data is typically provided in tabular form or, based on a range of different geographical units, in file types for geographical information systems (GIS), for instance as ESRI Shapefiles. The geographical units reflect administrative boundaries at different levels of detail, from Devolved Administration to Output Areas (OA), wards or intermediate geographies . While the presentation of data on the level of these geographical units is useful for statistical purposes, accounting for spatial variability for instance of environmental determinants of public health requires a more spatially homogeneous population distribution. For this purpose, the dataset presented here combines 2011 UK Census population data on Output Area level with Land Cover Map 2007 land-use classes 'urban' and 'suburban' to create a consistent and comprehensive gridded population data product at 1 km x 1 km spatial resolution. The mapping product is based on British National Grid (OSGB36 datum).

Living England is a multi-year project which delivers a broad habitat map for the whole of England, created using satellite imagery, field data records and other geospatial data in a machine learning framework. The Living England habitat map shows the extent and distribution of broad habitats across England aligned to the UKBAP classification, providing a valuable insight into our natural capital assets and helping to inform land management decisions. Living England is a project within Natural England, funded by and supports the Defra Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) Programme and Environmental Land Management (ELM) Schemes to provide an openly available national map of broad habitats across England.This dataset includes very complex geometry with a large number of features so it has a default viewing distance set to 1:80,000 (City in the map viewer).Process Description:A number of data layers are used to develop a ground dataset of habitat reference data, which are then used to inform a machine-learning model and spatial analyses to generate a map of the likely locations and distributions of habitats across England. The main source data layers underpinning the spatial framework and models are Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 satellite data from the ESA Copernicus programme, Lidar from the EA's national Lidar Programme and collected data through the project's national survey programme. Additional datasets informing the approach as detailed below and outlined in the accompanying technical user guide.Datasets used:OS MasterMap® Topography Layer; Geology aka BGS Bedrock Mapping 1:50k; Long Term Monitoring Network; Uplands Inventory; Coastal Dune Geomatics Mapping Ground Truthing; Crop Map of England (RPA) CROME; Lowland Heathland Survey; National Grassland Survey; National Plant Monitoring Scheme; NE field Unit Surveys; Northumberland Border Mires Survey; Sentinel-2 multispectral imagery; Sentinel-1 backscatter imagery; Sentinel-1 single look complex (SLC) imagery; National forest inventory (NFI); Cranfield NATMAP; Agri-Environment HLS Monitoring; Living England desktop validation; Priority Habitat Inventory; Space2 Eye Lens: Ainsdale NNR, State of the Bog Bowland Survey, State of the Bog Dark Peak Condition Survey, State of the Bog Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Mountain Hare Habitat Survey Dark Peak, State of the Bog; Moors for the Future Dark Peak Survey; West Pennines Designation NVC Survey; Wetland Annex 1 inventory; Soils-BGS Soil Parent Material; Met Office HadUK gridded climate product; Saltmarsh Extent and Zonation; EA LiDAR DSM & DTM; New Forest Mires Wetland Survey; New Forest Mires Wetland Survey; West Cumbria Mires Survey; England Peat Map Vegetation Surveys; NE protected sites monitoring; ERA5; OS Open Built-up Areas; OS Boundaries dataset; EA IHM (Integrated height model) DTM; OS VectorMap District; EA Coastal Flood Boundary: Extreme Sea Levels; AIMS Spatial Sea Defences; LIDAR Sand Dunes 2022; EA Coastal saltmarsh species surveys; Aerial Photography GB (APGB); NASA SRT (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) M30; Provisional Agricultural Land Classification; Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD); Open Street Map 2024.Attribute descriptions: Column Heading Full Name Format Description

SegID SegID Character (100) Unique Living England segment identifier. Format is LEZZZZ_BGZXX_YYYYYYY where Z = release year (2223 for this version), X = BGZ and Y = Unique 7-digit number

Prmry_H Primary_Habitat Date Primary Living England Habitat

Relblty Reliability
Character (12) Reliability Metric Score

Mdl_Hbs Model_Habs Interger List of likely habitats output by the Random Forest model.

Mdl_Prb Model_Probs Double (6,2) List of probabilities for habitats listed in ‘Model_Habs’, calculated by the Random Forest model.

Mixd_Sg Mixed_Segment Character (50) Indication of the likelihood a segment contains a mixture of dominant habitats. Either Unlikely or Probable.

Source Source

Description of how the habitat classification was derived. Options are: Random Forest; Vector OSMM Urban; Vector Classified OS Water; Vector EA saltmarsh; LE saltmarsh & QA; Vector RPA Crome, ALC grades 1-4; Vector LE Bare Ground Analysis; LE QA Adjusted

SorcRsn Source_Reason

Reasoning for habitat class adjustment if ‘Source’ equals ‘LE QA Adjusted’

Shap_Ar Shape_Area

Segment area (m2) Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.

[From The Landmap Project: Introduction, "http://www.landmap.ac.uk/background/intro.html"]

 A joint project to provide orthorectified satellite image mosaics of Landsat,
 SPOT and ERS radar data and a high resolution Digital Elevation Model for the
 whole of the UK. These data will be in a form which can easily be merged with
 other data, such as road networks, so that any user can quickly produce a
 precise map of their area of interest.

 Predominately aimed at the UK academic and educational sectors these data and
 software are held online at the Manchester University super computer facility
 where users can either process the data remotely or download it to their local
 network.

 Please follow the links to the left for more information about the project or
 how to obtain data or access to the radar processing system at MIMAS. Please
 also refer to the MIMAS spatial-side website,
 "http://www.mimas.ac.uk/spatial/", for related remote sensing materials.

The Flood Map for Planning Service includes several layers of information. This includes the Flood Zones plus climate change data which shows how the combined extent of Flood Zones 2 and 3 could increase with climate change over the next century, ignoring the benefits of any existing flood defences. We have assumed no changes to flood defences or land-use that could occur in future. The effects of climate change on flood risk we may see in the future could be different to those currently considered.

Flood Zones plus climate change should be used to help planners and developers identify the need for: • a site-specific flood risk assessment • the sequential test.

The dataset can also help to inform the preparation of strategic flood risk assessments.

The Flood Zones plus climate change are a composite dataset including national and local modelled data, and information from past floods.

The Flood Zones plus climate change are designed to only give an indication of flood risk to an area of land and are not suitable for showing whether an individual property is at risk of flooding. This is because we cannot know all the details about each property.

Flood Zones plus climate change uses the following climate change allowances: • ‘Central’ allowance for the 2080s epoch (2070-2125) for risk of flooding from rivers • ‘Upper End’ allowance for risk of flooding from the sea, accounting for cumulative sea level rise to 2125.

Users of these datasets should always check they are suitable for the intended use.

A Special Protection Area (SPA) is the land designated under Directive 2009/147/EC on the Conservation of Wild Birds. SPAs are strictly protected sites classified in accordance with Article 4 of the EC Birds Directive, which came into force in April 1979. They are classified for rare and vulnerable birds (as listed on Annex I of the Directive), and for regularly occurring migratory species. Data supplied has the status "Classified". The data does not include "Potential" sites. Boundaries are mapped against Ordnance Survey MasterMap.Full metadata can be viewed on data.gov.uk.

A series of maps at the detailed scale of 1:25 000 have been produced for areas of outstanding geological interest in Great Britain. Some maps are accompanied by explanatory booklets. The maps were published between 1954 and 2007. About 60 maps have been published, some showing solid geology, some drift geology and some combined solid and drift. Most of the maps include geological cross sections and generalised vertical sections. Geological maps represent a geologist's compiled interpretation of the geology of an area. A geologist will consider the data available at the time, including measurements and observations collected during field campaigns, as well as their knowledge of geological processes and the geological context to create a model of the geology of an area. This model is then fitted to a topographic basemap and drawn up at the appropriate scale, with generalization if necessary, to create a geological map, which is a representation of the geological model. Explanatory notes and vertical and horizontal cross sections may be published with the map. Geological maps may be created to show various aspects of the geology, or themes. These maps are hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

This dataset is primarily intended to be used for informing development decisions. This dataset is incomplete, and contains some authoritative data provided by local authorities, as well as conservation area boundaries from Historic England, and other secondary sources found on data.gov.uk. The data currently contains a number of duplicate areas we are working to remove.