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
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
Lake | Area (sq mi) |
---|---|
Windermere | 5.69 |
Ullswater | 3.44 |
Bassenthwaite Lake | 2.06 |
Derwent Water | 2.06 |
Coniston Water | 1.89 |
Largest natural lakes in Wales
These are largely 'natural' but some have minor modifications to regulate their outflow.
Lake | Area (sq mi) |
---|---|
Llyn Tegid | 1.87 |
Llangorse Lake | 0.59 |
Llyn Cowlyd | 0.42 |
Llyn Padarn | 0.38 |
Tal-y-llyn lake | 0.34 |
Llyn Cwellyn | 0.34 |
Llyn Llywenan | 0.20 |
Kenfig Pool | 0.11 |
Largest reservoirs in the United Kingdom
Lake | Area (sq mi) | Location |
---|---|---|
Rutland Water | 4.86 | England |
Kielder Water | 4.25 | England |
Lake Vyrnwy | 3.18 | Wales |
Pitsford Water | 2.85 | England |
Grafham Water | 2.85 | England |
Chew Valley Lake | 1.88 | England |
Trawsfynydd | 1.84 | Wales |
Clywedog | 1.55 | Wales |
Carron Valley | 1.51 | Scotland |
Haweswater | 1.50 | England |
Derwent Reservoir | 1.44 | England |
Llyn Brenig | 1.44 | Wales |
Colliford | 1.4 | England |
Thirlmere | 1.25 | England |
Llyn Celyn | 1.25 | Wales |
See also
- List of lakes in England
- List of loughs in Ireland
- List of lochs in Scotland
- List of lakes in Wales
- List of lakes in the Lake District
- Geography of the United Kingdom
Notes
- "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.
- Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Ness Basin" Pages 381-85, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- Source for all quantities is the same unless otherwise stated.
- "Lough Neagh" Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine discoverireland.com. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- "ECN Sites: Lough Erne" Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine Environmental Change Network. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- 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.
- "Lough Erne" Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- 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.
- Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Etive Basin" Page 270, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Ewe Basin" Page 211, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Morar Basin" Page 197, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Tay Basin" Page 80, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- 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
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lakes of the United Kingdom. |
- Murray, Sir John and Pullar, Laurence (1910) Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland, 1897-1909. London; Challenger Office.