We keep road drains and gullies clean and maintained to prevent flooding. Find out here how to report different types of road flooding.
If you need to request sandbags you can do this on our request sandbags page.
| Road flooding issue | Who is responsible |
|---|---|
| Blocked gullies (roadside drainage gratings); overflowing manholes (sumps) | North Yorkshire Council - report blocked gullies |
| Channels ('grips') in rural verges to allow water to run off the road; pipes and stone culverts; general road flooding | North Yorkshire Council - report blocked channels |
| Missing or damaged drain cover | North Yorkshire Council - report a missing or damaged drain cover |
| Rivers | The Environment Agency - a 24-hour Floodline advice and information service is provided |
| Roadside ditches and private sewers or drains | The private landowners on each side of the ditch |
| Public sewers (including drains leading to public sewers in urban areas), burst water mains | The local water authority - but in winter, please also report public sewers issues |
| Car parks, amenity areas | North Yorkshire Council |
If you prefer, you can tell us about a flooding issue anonymously, but you will miss out on the benefits of having an account such as getting progress updates.
We changed our reporting system in July 2026. If you want to check an issue you reported before 15 July 2026, you can find it in your previous account records.
If it's an emergency and poses a safety risk, such as a fallen tree, contact us. Out of office hours, call North Yorkshire Police on 101. If there is danger to life, call 999.
Motorways and trunk roads such as the A1, A1(M), M62, A66, A66(M), A64, A168 (Dishforth to Thirsk) and A19 (north of Thirsk) must be reported to National Highways.
Road drainage systems or gullies are intended to remove water efficiently from the surface of the highway to provide a safe passage for all vehicles and pedestrians and to prevent structural damage to the road.
We regularly inspect and maintain road gullies we are responsible for every year. They are cleared or repaired in order of priority, depending on:
It is illegal to discharge drainage directly on to the highway or to connect private drainage into any highway drainage system.
If you intend to carry out any alterations to drainage, or make changes in land use which might result in surface water discharging on to the highway, or increased flows in highway drainage, you must consult us.
Keeping gullies clean and fully operational is our responsibility. Blocked and damaged roadside drains can cause a hazard to highway users, particularly during periods of heavy rain.
Our approach to highway flooding is one of both proactive and reactive maintenance.
It must be remembered that problems can occur even when drainage provisions are clean and well maintained, for example as a result of: