Yes, parts of Cheddar carry a real flood risk, and the village has form. About one in six postcodes sits in a high surface-water flood band, close to a quarter are at medium risk, and roughly one in ten falls inside the highest river-and-sea flood zone. In 1968 the Chew Stoke flood sent boulders down the gorge and washed cars away. This is not a village that has never seen water move. It is one that has, and the maps remember.
On the official river and sea flood zones, about one in ten of the area's postcodes sit in the middle band, and a similar share fall into the highest zone, the one reserved for the greatest chance of flooding from rivers or the sea. That is not the whole village by any stretch, but it is a meaningful minority, and it gathers at the low-lying end rather than up on the Mendip slopes. Where you buy inside Cheddar changes the answer completely.
Surface water is the bigger everyday story. About one in six postcodes carries a high surface-water flood risk, close to a quarter sit at medium, and around half have at least some low-level exposure. Surface water is the rain that arrives faster than the drains and the ground can swallow it, and in a village pinned against limestone hills with a gorge that funnels weather downhill, it is the risk that catches the buyers who only ever checked the river maps.
Look forward and the figure grows. With the climate allowance factored in, the share of postcodes in the top flood zone rises to roughly one in five. That is the map planning for heavier rainfall and higher sea levels over the life of a mortgage, and it is the number worth weighing if you are buying to stay rather than to move on in five years.
For insurance, that puts Cheddar in the middle ground where the exact address matters more than the postcode. A house on high ground may barely register, while one at the bottom of the village may face higher premiums, a larger excess, or a question about the government-backed flood reinsurance scheme. Ask the seller for a flood history and get a quote before you fall for the kitchen, because cover is far easier to sort out before contracts than after a claim.
Cheddar's flood risk is real and sits below what you would want, not catastrophic but not to be waved away either. Check the specific address, read the flood report in full, and treat the cheaper plots at the bottom of the village as priced that way for a reason.