List of lakes and lochs of 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 lochs, and in Northern Ireland loughs (pronounced the same way, i.e. (/lɒx/)). In Wales a lake is called a llyn. The words "loch" and "lough", in addition to referring to bodies of freshwater ("lakes"), are also applied to bodies of brackish water or seawater, which in other countries or contexts may be called fjord, firth, estuary, bay etc. In particular, the term "sea-loch" is used in Scotland in this way, as the English language equivalent of 'fjord'. (There are many examples, including Loch Carron, Loch Torridon etc.)

Some of the largest lakes in England and Wales are man-made reservoirs, or lakes whose size has been increased by damming.

Largest water bodies in the United Kingdom
NASA Landsat image of Lough Neagh
Loch Lomond in winter
Loch Ness With Urquhart Castle in the foreground
The islands of Loch Maree

This table includes the ten largest fresh water bodies by area. Lough Neagh is the largest water body in the UK by this measure, although Loch Ness is the largest by volume and contains nearly double the amount of water in all the lakes of England and Wales combined.[1] Loch Morar is the deepest of the UK's lakes and Loch Awe the longest. Murray and Pullar (1910) note that the mean depth of Loch Ness is 57.4% of the maximum depth – higher than in any other large deep loch in Scotland.[2] The deepest lake in England is Wast Water which descends to 76 metres (249 ft).

Name Location Area (mi²) Area (km²) Volume (km³) Length (km) Max. depth (m) Mean depth (m)[3]
Lough Neagh Northern Ireland 147.87 383[4] 3.528 30 25 9
Lower Lough Erne Northern Ireland 42.28 109.5[5] 1.3[6] 29[7] 62[6] 11.9[5]
Loch Lomond Scotland 27.45 71 2.6 36 190 37[8]
Loch Ness Scotland 21.78 56 7.45 39 230 132[2]
Upper Lough Erne Northern Ireland 13.3 34.5[5] < 0.35 19[7] < 60[7] 2.3[5]
Loch Awe Scotland 14.85 39 1.2 41 94 32[9]
Loch Maree Scotland 11.03 28.6 1.09 20 114 38[10]
Loch Morar Scotland 10.3 27 2.3 18.8 310 87[11]
Loch Tay Scotland 10.19 26.4 1.6 23 150 60.6[12]
Loch Shin Scotland 8.7 22.5 0.35 27.8 49 15.5[13]

Largest natural lakes in England
Main article: List of lakes of England § Largest lakes and reservoirs by surface area
LakeArea (sq mi)
Windermere5.69
Ullswater3.44
Bassenthwaite Lake2.06
Derwent Water2.06
Coniston Water1.89

Largest natural lakes in Wales

These are largely 'natural' but some have minor modifications to regulate their outflow.

LakeArea (sq mi)
Llyn Tegid1.87
Llangorse Lake0.59
Llyn Cowlyd0.42
Llyn Padarn0.38
Tal-y-llyn lake0.34
Llyn Cwellyn0.34
Llyn Llywenan0.20
Kenfig Pool0.11

Largest reservoirs in the United Kingdom
LakeArea (sq mi)Location
Rutland Water4.86England
Kielder Water4.25England
Lake Vyrnwy3.18Wales
Pitsford Water2.85England
Grafham Water2.85England
Chew Valley Lake1.88England
Trawsfynydd1.84Wales
Clywedog1.55Wales
Carron Valley1.51Scotland
Haweswater1.50England
Derwent Reservoir1.44England
Llyn Brenig1.44Wales
Colliford1.4England
Thirlmere1.25England
Llyn Celyn1.25Wales

See also

Notes
  1. "Botanical survey of Scottish freshwater lochs" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine SNH Information and Advisory Note Number 4. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  2. Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Ness Basin" Pages 381-85, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  3. Source for all quantities is the same unless otherwise stated.
  4. "Lough Neagh" Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine discoverireland.com. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  5. "ECN Sites: Lough Erne" Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine Environmental Change Network. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  6. Gibson, C.E.; Foy, R.H.; and McNally, J. (2005) "Stratification and Oxygen Depletion in Lower Lough Erne 1991-2000" Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 105 No. 2, pp. 81-86.
  7. "Lough Erne" Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  8. Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Clyde Basin" Archived 2012-09-04 at Archive.today Page 262, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  9. Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Etive Basin" Page 270, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  10. Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Ewe Basin" Page 211, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  11. Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Morar Basin" Page 197, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  12. Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Tay Basin" Page 80, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  13. Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Naver Basin" Pages 293-94, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.

References
  • Murray, Sir John and Pullar, Laurence (1910) Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland, 1897-1909. London; Challenger Office.
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