Flood risk in M46 (Atherton)
Of the 577 postcodes in M46 – covering Atherton – 3 (0.5%) have their centre in Flood Zone 3 and 10 (1.7%) in Flood Zone 2, on the Environment Agency’s Flood Map for Planning.
The Zone 3 share is well below the England average of 5.6%, and below the Greater Manchester figure of 1.2%.
Most of the district is in Flood Zone 1, but the postcodes in Zones 2 and 3 tend to cluster along rivers, streams and low-lying ground – so it’s worth checking the exact postcode rather than relying on the district picture.
Flood zones only cover rivers and the sea, and ignore flood defences. Surface water from heavy rain can affect any street, including in Zone 1.
Flood zones by postcode sector
Each sector is the first part of the postcode plus the first digit after the space. M46 9 has the highest share in Flood Zone 3 (0.7% of its postcodes).
| Sector | Postcodes | Zone 3 | Zone 2 | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M46 0 | 281 | 0.4% | 2.8% | |
| M46 6 | 1 | 0% | 0% | |
| M46 9 | 295 | 0.7% | 0.7% |
Main rivers in Greater Manchester
River Irwell – Bury, Salford and Manchester
River Mersey – Stockport, Didsbury and Sale
River Roch – Littleborough and Rochdale
More on the area in our Greater Manchester flood risk guide.
How these figures are worked out
We took the centre point of every live postcode in M46 from OS Code-Point Open and tested it against the Environment Agency’s Flood Map for Planning, as published in the flood-risk-zone dataset (version of 5 November 2026). A postcode counts once, whether it has one home or forty, and a postcode whose centre is just outside a zone still counts as Zone 1. Updated November 2026.
For one address, the free postcode check looks at the zones around the postcode, and the full report adds surface water, reservoirs, recorded floods and defences.
