Longest rivers of the United Kingdom
This is a list of the longest rivers of the United Kingdom.
Longest rivers of the United Kingdom
Rank | River | Length (miles) | Length (km) | Mean Flow (m3/s)[1] | Mouth | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | River Severn[2] | 220 | 354 | 107.4 | Severn Estuary | Wales/England |
2 | River Thames[2] | 215 | 346 | 65.4 | Thames Estuary | England |
3 | River Trent[2] | 185 | 297 | 89.0 | The Humber | England |
4 | River Wye[3] | 155 | 250 | 73.1 | Severn Estuary | Wales/England |
5 | River Great Ouse[2] | 143 | 230 | 15.6 | The Wash | England |
6 | River Ure/River Ouse, Yorkshire | 129 | 208 | 69.8 | The Humber | England |
7 | River Tay[2] | 117 | 188 | 179.0 | Firth of Tay | Scotland |
8 | River Clyde | 109 | 176 | 48.5 | Firth of Clyde | Scotland |
9 | River Spey | 107 | 172 | 65.7 | Moray Firth | Scotland |
10 | River Nene[2] | 100 | 161 | 9.3 | The Wash | England |
11 | River Bann / Lough Neagh | 99 | 159 | 92.2 | Atlantic Ocean | Northern Ireland |
12 | River Tweed[2] | 96 | 155 | 81.7 | North Sea | Scotland/England |
13 | River Avon, Warwickshire | 96 | 154 | 17.3 | River Severn* | England |
14 | River Eden, Cumbria | 90 | 145 | 53.7 | Solway Firth | England |
15 | River Dee, Aberdeenshire | 87 | 140 | 47.8 | North Sea | Scotland |
16 | River Witham | 82 | 132 | 5.2 | The Wash | England |
17 | River Teme | 81 | 130 | 18.2 | River Severn* | Wales/England |
18= | River Don, Aberdeenshire[2] | 80 | 129 | 21.3 | North Sea | Scotland |
18= | River Foyle | 80 | 129 | 58.8 | Atlantic Ocean | Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland |
20 | River Usk[4] | 78 | 125 | 28.6 | Severn Estuary | Wales |
21 | River Teifi[5] | 76 | 122 | 29.5 | Cardigan Bay | Wales |
22= | River Tywi |
75 | 121 | 39.9 | Carmarthen Bay | Wales |
22= | River Ribble | 75 | 120 | 34.0 | Irish Sea | England |
22= | River Avon, Bristol | 75 | 120 | 22.2 | Mouth of the Severn | England |
25= | River Tyne[2] | 73 | 118 | 45.2 | North Sea | England |
25= | River Swale | 73 | 118 | 20.2 | River Ure | England |
27 | River Derwent, Yorkshire | 72 | 115 | 17.4 | River Ouse, Yorkshire | England |
28= | River Aire | 71 | 114 | 36.5 | River Ouse, Yorkshire | England |
28= | River Nith | 71 | 114 | 36.5 | Solway Firth | Scotland |
30= | River Tees | 70 | 113 | 22.2 | North Sea | England |
30= | River Medway | 70 | 113 | 11.7 | Thames Estuary | England |
30= | River Mersey | 70 | 113 | 37.1 | Irish Sea | England |
33= | River Dee, Wales[2] | 70 | 112 | 34.1 | Dee Estuary | Wales/England |
33= | River Don, South Yorkshire |
70 | 112 | 16.3 | River Ouse, Yorkshire | England |
There seems to be little consensus in published sources as to the lengths of rivers, nor much agreement as to what constitutes a river. Thus the River Ure and
Where a river ends in an estuary the conventional British approach has been to treat the river as ending at the end of the administrative zone. Thus the Severn ends at the mouth of the
The figures for mean flow are derived from those offered up by the National River Flow Archive, in particular the flow measured at the lowermost gauging stations on each named watercourse. Sometimes the figures of further downstream tributaries are combined with those of the main stem river to provide a more realistic flow figure for the lowermost non-tidal stretch of a watercourse. Some major UK rivers (in terms of flow) are omitted from the list above simply because they are also short.
See also
- List of rivers of England
- List of rivers of Ireland
- List of rivers of Scotland
- List of rivers of Wales
- List of rivers in the Isle of Man
- Terminology
- Estuary
- Firth
- Floodplain
- River
- River delta
- Source (river or stream)
- Tributary
- Canal & River Trust
- Canals of the United Kingdom
- Geography of the United Kingdom
- List of lakes in the United Kingdom
- Reservoirs and dams in the United Kingdom
- Waterfalls of the United Kingdom
- Waterways in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ "Search Data". National River Flow Archive.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85936-120-7.
- ^ "SSSI Citation River Wye (upper Wye)" (PDF). Natural Resources Wales. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ "Usk management catchment Summary" (PDF). Natural Resources Wales. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ - River Teifi - CCW Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://copranet.projects.eucc-d.de/files/000165_EUROSION_Humber_Estuary.pdf [bare URL PDF]