Burton End has a moderate flood risk, and it comes from rainwater more than from rivers. No postcode is in the high-risk river-and-sea zone. A small fringe is in the medium zone. More than one postcode in ten shows a high reading on some flood measure. The rain is the threat here, not a river.
On the Environment Agency's river-and-sea mapping, about 2% of Burton End's postcodes are in Flood Zone 2, the medium-probability band, and none are in Flood Zone 3, the high-probability band. The two zones are separate bands, with Zone 2 covering the fringe beyond Zone 3, so here there is a thin medium-risk fringe and nothing in the high-risk band. No river near Burton End is large enough to put a single postcode in the top band.
Surface water is a different matter. Because no postcode is in the high-probability river-and-sea zone, any high reading in Burton End has to come from another source, and rain running off fields and roads is one of them. River maps do not capture that kind of flooding, which is why a postcode can be outside every flood zone and still carry a high surface-water reading.
The Environment Agency's climate-adjusted mapping, which estimates how far the zones could spread as rainfall and river flows increase, still puts about 2% of the area's postcodes in the flood zone. That is a projection based on modelled future conditions, and it shows no change from today.
For insurance, the river-and-sea picture is benign, and most homes in Burton End should not run into the problems that come with high-risk river zones. Surface water is where premiums and policy exclusions can still apply. Ask for an insurance quote on the specific address and see whether the insurer raises surface water, because that is the risk the zone maps leave out.
Across the 45 postcodes that carry flood indicators, about 13% are rated high on at least one measure, 11% medium and 18% low. Each of those shares counts a postcode once if any of several measures flags it, with surface water counted alongside rivers and the sea. That is why these shares are higher than the river-and-sea zone figures above.
The Environment Agency's modelled flood extents put none of Burton End's postcodes in the high-risk extent, either with or without defences, and about 2% in the low-risk extent without defences. "Defended" in that model only means a flood defence is shown. Here the question barely arises, because there is no high-risk river extent for a defence to protect.
The Environment Agency's records show no historic flooding in Burton End. That is good news, though it only covers flooding someone recorded.
Burton End's flood risk is middling. River flooding is almost absent, but surface water puts a minority of postcodes at real risk, so a buyer needs to check the specific address.