Longest rivers of the United Kingdom

The Severn Bridges crossing near the mouth of the River Severn.
The River Thames in London.
The River Tay in Perth, by measured flow the largest in Great Britain.

This is a list of the longest rivers of the United Kingdom.

Longest rivers of the United Kingdom

RankRiverLength (miles)Length (km)Country
1River Severn[1]220354Wales/England
2River Thames[1]215346England
3River Trent[1]185297England
4River Great Ouse[1]143230England
5River Wye[1]134215Wales/England
6River Ure/River Ouse, Yorkshire129208England
7River Tay[1]117188Scotland
8River Clyde109176Scotland
9River Spey107172Scotland
10River Nene[1]100161England
11River Bann / Lough Neagh99159Northern Ireland
12River Tweed[1]96155Scotland/England
13River Avon, Warwickshire96154England
14River Eden, Cumbria90145England
15River Dee, Aberdeenshire87140Scotland
16River Witham82132England
17River Teme81130Wales/England
18=River Don, Aberdeenshire[1]80129Scotland
18=River Foyle80129Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland
20=River Teifi[2]75122Wales
20=River Tywi75121Wales
20=River Ribble75120England
20=River Avon, Bristol75120England
24River Tyne[1]73118England
25River Derwent, Yorkshire72115England
26=River Aire71114England
26=River Nith71114Scotland
28=River Tees70113England
28=River Medway70113England
28=River Mersey70113England
31=River Dee, Wales[1]70112Wales/England
31=River Don, South Yorkshire70112England

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/ River Ouse/Humber system would come fourth in the list, with a combined length of 161 miles (259 km); and the River Trent/Humber system would top the list with their combined length of 222 miles (357 km).[3] Also, the Thames tributary, the River Churn, sourced at Seven Springs, adds 14 miles (23 km) to the length of the Thames (from its traditional source at Thames Head). The Churn/Thames' length at 229 miles (369 km) is therefore greater than the Severn's length of 220 miles (354 km). 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 100 miles (160 km), but would be around 5 miles (8 km) 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.[1]

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 and the Thames at the Yantlet Line. The currently accepted end of the Severn Estuary is about 18.5 miles (29.8 km) further, and the PLA's authority stretches now to Margate, 30 miles (48 km) further. Other countries have different conventions, making comparisons of limited value.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Owen, Susan; et al. (2005). Rivers and the British Landscape. Carnegie. ISBN 978-1-85936-120-7.
  2. ↑ - River Teifi - CCW Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ http://copranet.projects.eucc-d.de/files/000165_EUROSION_Humber_Estuary.pdf


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