List of lakes and lochs of the United Kingdom
Template:Short description 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. (/lɒç/)). 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
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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.<ref name=SNH>"Botanical survey of Scottish freshwater lochs" Template:Webarchive SNH Information and Advisory Note Number 4. Retrieved 1 January 2010.</ref> 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.<ref name=Ness>Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Ness Basin" Pages 381-85, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> The deepest lake in England is Wast Water which descends to 76 metres (249 ft).
| Rank | Name | Location | Area (mi2) | Area (km2) | Volume (km3) | Length (km) | Max. depth (m) | Mean depth (m)<ref name=area>Source for all quantities is the same unless otherwise stated.</ref> |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lough Neagh | Northern Ireland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref>"Lough Neagh" Template:Webarchive discoverireland.com. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts |
| 2 | Lower Lough Erne | Northern Ireland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref name=ECN>"ECN Sites: Lough Erne" Template:Webarchive Environmental Change Network. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> | Template:Nts<ref name=Gibson>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.</ref> | Template:Nts<ref name=EB>"Lough Erne" Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> | Template:Nts<ref name=Gibson/> | Template:Nts<ref name=ECN/> |
| 3 | Loch Lomond | Scotland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref>Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Clyde Basin" Template:Webarchive Page 262, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> |
| 4 | Loch Ness | Scotland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref name="Ness"/> |
| 5 | Loch Awe | Scotland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref>Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Etive Basin" Page 270, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> |
| 6 | Upper Lough Erne | Northern Ireland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref name=ECN/> | Template:Sort | Template:Nts<ref name=EB/> | Template:Sort | Template:Nts<ref name=ECN/> |
| 7 | Loch Maree | Scotland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref name=Maree>Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Ewe Basin" Page 211, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> |
| 8 | Loch Morar | Scotland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref>Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Morar Basin" Page 197, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> |
| 9 | Loch Tay | Scotland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref name=Tay>Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Tay Basin" Page 80, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> |
| 10 | Loch Shin | Scotland | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts | Template:Nts<ref>Murray and Pullar (1910) "Lochs of the Naver Basin" Pages 293-94, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2010.</ref> |
Largest natural lakes in England
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| Rank | Lake | Area (km2) | Area (mi2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windermere | 14.7 | 5.69 |
| 2 | Ullswater | 8.9 | 3.44 |
| 3= | Bassenthwaite Lake | 5.3 | 2.06 |
| 3= | Derwent Water | 5.3 | 2.06 |
| 5 | Coniston Water | 4.9 | 1.89 |
Largest natural lakes in Wales
These are largely 'natural' but some have minor modifications to regulate their outflow.
| Rank | Lake | Area (km2) | Area (mi2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid) | 4.8 | 1.87 |
| 2 | Llangorse Lake | 1.5 | 0.59 |
| 3 | Llyn Cowlyd | 1.1 | 0.42 |
| 4 | Llyn Padarn | 0.98 | 0.38 |
| 5 | Tal-y-llyn lake | 0.89 | 0.34 |
| 6 | Llyn Cwellyn | 0.87 | 0.34 |
| 7 | Llyn Llywenan | 0.52 | 0.20 |
| 8 | Kenfig Pool | 0.28 | 0.11 |
Largest reservoirs in the United Kingdom
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| Rank | Lake | Area (km2) | Area (mi2) | County | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rutland Water | 12.6 | 4.86 | Rutland | England |
| 2 | Kielder Water | 11.0 | 4.25 | Northumberland | England |
| 3 | Lake Vyrnwy | 8.2 | 3.18 | Powys | Wales |
| 4= | Pitsford Water | 7.4 | 2.85 | Northamptonshire | England |
| 4= | Grafham Water | 7.4 | 2.85 | Cambridgeshire | England |
| 6 | Chew Valley Lake | 4.9 | 1.88 | Somerset | England |
| 7 | Llyn Trawsfynydd | 4.8 | 1.84 | Gwynedd | Wales |
| 8 | Clywedog Reservoir | 4.0 | 1.55 | Powys | Wales |
| 9 | Carron Valley | 3.9 | 1.51 | Stirlingshire | Scotland |
| 10 | Haweswater | 3.9 | 1.50 | Cumbria | England |
| 11= | Derwent Reservoir | 3.7 | 1.44 | County Durham & Northumberland | England |
| 11= | Llyn Brenig | 3.7 | 1.44 | Conwy & Denbighshire | Wales |
| 13 | Colliford Lake | 3.6 | 1.4 | Cornwall | England |
| 14= | Thirlmere | 3.2 | 1.25 | Cumbria | England |
| 14= | Llyn Celyn | 3.2 | 1.25 | Gwynedd | Wales |
See also
- List of lakes in England
- List of Irish loughs
- List of lochs in Scotland
- List of lakes in Wales
- List of lakes in the Lake District
- Geography of the United Kingdom
Notes
References
- Murray, Sir John and Pullar, Laurence (1910) Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland, 1897-1909. London; Challenger Office.