Rivers barely touch Hook. The rain is another matter. Hardly any postcodes sit in a river flood zone. About a quarter rate high risk on at least one flood measure. No flooding has been recorded in the area. Most homes won't flood from a river, but that is not the same as never getting wet.
The Environment Agency's river-and-sea flood zones put about 2% of Hook's postcodes in Flood Zone 3, the highest-probability band, and none in Flood Zone 2. The two zones are separate bands. Zone 2 is the medium-probability fringe beyond Zone 3, not a larger area that contains it, so a zero there is not a mistake. For flooding from the main rivers, Hook is small beer.
Surface water is what the river maps leave out. It is rain arriving faster than the drains and the ground can take it, and it doesn't need a river to reach a front door. There is no surface-water-only count for Hook, so the postcode measure further down, which folds surface water in, is the one to watch. Buyers who check the river zone, see a comfortable number and stop there have done half a search.
With the Environment Agency's climate-change allowance applied, the share of postcodes in the river-and-sea flood zone rises to about 2%. That is a forward look at a modelled future, not a prediction for any particular winter.
Insurers price the specific address, not the village average, and they usually look at surface water as well as rivers. A house on a low street in a quiet flood area can still come with a higher premium or an excess that makes you blink. Get an indicative quote before you commit, not after exchange.
On the wider postcode measure, which counts a postcode if it rates at that level on at least one flood indicator, surface water included, about 25% of Hook's postcodes rate high, 18% medium and 33% low. These bands overlap with the river zones above and measure a different thing, so don't add them together. The gap between the tiny river-zone share and a quarter rating high is where the rain lives.
The Environment Agency's rivers-and-sea mapping lists 202 properties across the 7 postcodes that carry any river or sea risk. Of those, 1 property is at high risk, 122 at medium and 9 at low. The single high-risk property is not a home. Only postcodes with some risk appear in this count at all, so the rest of Hook isn't in it.
The modelled high-risk flood extent covers about 2% of postcodes with defences left out and about 2% with defences included. Here, the defences in the model don't shrink the high-risk footprint. In any case, "defended" only means a defence appears in the model. It doesn't mean the house stays dry, and no buyer should take it as a promise.
The nearest tide gauge is at Portsmouth, and its record from 1962 to 2023 shows the sea rising by about 2 millimetres a year. That is a measured historical rate, not a forecast. It is also a coastal figure for an inland village, where rain and rivers matter far more than tides.
No historic flooding is recorded within the area. That counts for something, because the record does include places that have flooded. It is not proof that no garden, cellar or road has ever gone under.
Before you buy in Hook:
- Enter the exact address into the Environment Agency's long-term flood risk service, and read the surface-water result, not just the river one.
- Get an indicative buildings insurance quote before instructing a solicitor.
- Ask the seller directly whether the property has ever flooded or made a flood claim.
- Walk the street after heavy rain if you can, and look at where the water sits.
Rivers are a minor worry in Hook, but the postcode picture is worse than the calm river maps suggest. That makes flooding one of the weaker parts of an otherwise comfortable place. Treat it as a question for each address, not a reason to write off the village.