This is a list of the longest rivers of the United Kingdom.
Longest rivers of the United Kingdom
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
River Ouse can be counted as one river system or as two rivers. If it is counted as one, the
River Aire
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malham to Howden is direct, but the river's meanderings extend that to . Between Malham Tarn and Ai ...
/ River Ouse/
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
system would come fourth in the list, with a combined length of ; and the
River Trent
The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...
/Humber system would top the list with their combined length of .
[http://copranet.projects.eucc-d.de/files/000165_EUROSION_Humber_Estuary.pdf ] Also, the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
tributary, the
River Churn
The River Churn is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises at Seven Springs in Gloucestershire and flows south for approximately to meet the Thames at Cricklade in Wiltshire. Its length from its source to the confluence wi ...
, sourced at
Seven Springs, adds to the length of the Thames (from its traditional source at
Thames Head
Thames Head is a group of seasonal springs that arise near the village of Coates in the Cotswolds, about three miles south-west of the town of Cirencester, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. The spring water comes from the limestone ...
). The
Churn
Churn may refer to:
* Churn drill, large-diameter drilling machine large holes appropriate for holes in the ground
Dairy-product terms
* Butter churn, device for churning butter
* Churning (butter), the process of creating butter out of mil ...
/Thames' length at is therefore greater than the
Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
's length of . Thus, the combined Churn/Thames river would top the list. Sue Owen et al., in their book on rivers, generally restrict the length to the parts that bear the same name. Thus the River Nene is quoted at , but would be around more if the variously named sources were included. Many of the above lengths are considerably different from Sue Owen's list, some longer and some shorter.
[
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 ]Bristol Avon
The River Avon is a river in the south west of England. To distinguish it from a number of other rivers of the same name, it is often called the Bristol Avon. The name 'Avon' is a cognate of the Welsh word , meaning 'river'.
The Avon ...
and the Thames at the Yantlet Line. The currently accepted end of the Severn Estuary is about further, and the Port of London
The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North Sea ...
's authority stretches now to Margate, further. Other countries have different conventions, making comparisons of limited value. Those rivers which empty into other (non-tidal sections of) rivers are indicated in the table thus*. In Yorkshire, the Aire, Derwent and Don all empty into a tidal section of the Yorkshire Ouse.
The figures for mean flow In fluid dynamics, the fluid flow is often decomposed into a mean flow and deviations from the mean. The averaging can be done either in space or in time, or by ensemble averaging.
Example
Calculation of the mean flow may often be as simple as the ...
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
In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...
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
This is a list of rivers of England, organised geographically and taken anti-clockwise around the English coast where the various rivers discharge into the surrounding seas, from the Solway Firth on the Scottish border to the Welsh Dee on the Wel ...
* List of rivers of Ireland
This is an alphabetical list of the main rivers on the island of Ireland. It includes rivers that flow through the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Rivers that flow through Northern Ireland are marked with an asterisk (*). There are over ...
* List of rivers of Scotland
This list of rivers in Scotland is organised geography, geographically, taken anti-clockwise, from Berwick-upon-Tweed. Tributary, Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstream direction. (L) indicates a left-bank tributary and (R) indicat ...
* List of rivers of Wales
This is a list of rivers of Wales, organised geographically. It is taken anti-clockwise from the Dee Estuary to the M48 Bridge that separates the estuary of the River Wye from the River Severn.
Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstrea ...
* List of rivers in the Isle of Man
This is a list of rivers of the Isle of Man. It is organised geographically, taken anti-clockwise, from Douglas. Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstream direction.
* River Glass
** River Dhoo
*** Greeba River
** Sulby River
** Ba ...
* Terminology
** Estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
** Firth
Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more usually refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to ''fj ...
** Floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
** River
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
** River delta
A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition (geology), deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, res ...
** Source (river or stream)
The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source.
Definition
The ...
** Tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
** Canal & River Trust
The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, the ...
** Canals of the United Kingdom
The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's ro ...
** Geography of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. With a total area of approximately , the UK occupies the major part of the British Isles archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain, t ...
** List of lakes in the United Kingdom
The list of lakes, lochs, loughs and llyns of the United Kingdom is a link page for some large lakes of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), including lochs fully enclosed by land.
Lakes in Scotland are called ''loch ...
** Reservoirs and dams in the United Kingdom
This is a list of dams and reservoirs in the United Kingdom.
England Buckinghamshire
*Foxcote Reservoir and Wood, Foxcote Reservoir, north of Buckingham
*Weston Turville Reservoir, between Weston Turville and Wendover
Cambridgeshire
*Grafham Wa ...
** Waterfalls of the United Kingdom
This is a links page to the named waterfalls found in the UK and includes a list of the highest waterfalls.
Highest waterfalls in the UK
The list of highest waterfalls is often controversial, due to the ambiguity of whether to measure the sing ...
** Waterways in the United Kingdom
Water transport played a vital role in the UK's industrial development. The beginning of the 19th century saw a move from roads to waterways, (i.e. canals, rivers, firths, and estuaries).
Rivers in the United Kingdom
Major navigable rivers in ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longest Rivers Of The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
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