Lakes in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom Lakes

The UK has many beautiful lakes in all four of its constituent countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Many of the UK's most picturesque lakes are in Scotland in the Scottish Highlands, in Snowdon National Park in North Wales and the Lake District in northern England. The UK's largest lake is Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland.

England's largest lake is Windermere and England's deepest lake is Wastwater at a depth of 79 m (259 feet), both lakes are in the Lake District National Park.

Lakes in Scotland are called lochs, in Northern Ireland it is pronounced the same way but spelled loughs, and in Wales, a lake is called a Llyn.

The Lake District, England, UK. — Lake Scenery, The Lake District, North West England

Loch Shiel, the 4th longest loch in Scotland. — Loch Shiel, the 4th longest loch in Scotland

Lakes in Scotland

There are an estimated 31,460 freshwater lochs in Scotland. They are most numerous within the Scottish Highlands in the north of Scotland.

The following table shows the 5 largest lakes in Scotland, measured by surface area. Loch Lomond is considered Scotland's most beautiful lake, closely followed by Loch Ness, famous for its legendary monster "Nessie" and the ruins of Urquhart Castle, which sit on its banks

Loch Shiel, near Glenfinnan, stretches 28 kilometers and is the 4th longest loch in Scotland. During the summer there are boat tours on the loch and the surrounding mountains are great for hiking. St. Mary & St. Finnan Church is worth a visit.

Lakes in Scotland
ranking	lake	area in square miles
1	Loch Lomond	27.45
2	Loch Ness	21.78
3	Loch Awe	14.85
4	Loch Maree	11.03
5	Loch Morar	10.30

Lakes in Wales

The lakes of Wales occupy a surface area of only about 130 square kilometres, less than 1% of the land area of Wales. Most lakes in Wales start with the word "Llyn", which is Welsh for "Lake". Lake Bala or Llyn Tegid, in Welsh, the largest lake in Wales in Snowdonia, North Wales, joins with the River Dee, which runs north west through to Chester in England on the border between the two countries. Llyn Syfaddon or Llangorse Lake is the largest natural lake in South Wales.

The following chart shows the 5 largest lakes in Wales, by surface area.

Lakes in Wales
ranking	lake	area in square miles
1	Lake Bala	1.87
2	Llyn Syfaddon	0.59
3	Llyn Cowlyd	0.42
4	Llyn Padarn	0.38
5	Tal-y-llyn Lake	0.34

The Lakes, Lake District, England, UK. — Coniston Water, The Lake District, North West England

Lakes in England

There are about 387 lakes larger than 5 hectares in England. One hectare is around 2.5 acres. The following is a list of the 5 largest lakes in England, by surface area.

Lakes in England
ranking	lake	area in square miles
1	Windermere	5.69
2	Rutland Water	4.19
3	Kielder Water	3.86
4	Ullswater	3.44
5	Bassenthwaite Lake	2.06

Many of the largest lakes in the UK are in fact reservoirs. 4 out of 5 of the largest of these lakes are in England. Lake Vrnwy, being in Wales, is the exception.

England's most picturesque lakes include Buttermere, Windermere and Coniston Water all in the Lake District in Cumbria.

Fernilee Reservoir and Errwood Reservoir are two picturesque reservoirs between Stockport and Buxton in the Goyt Valley in the north west of England.

Reservoirs in England & Wales
ranking	lake	area in square miles
1	Rutland Water	4.86
2	Kielder Water	4.25
3	Lake Vyrnwy	3.18
4	Pitsford Water	2.85
5	Grafham Water	2.85

Lakes in Northern Ireland

There are three loughs in Northern Ireland including the largest lake in the UK, Lough Neagh, which provides 40% of the water supply of Northern Ireland. Lough Neagh is a popular spot for bird-watchers and its waters provide a bounty of fresh water eels, much in demand all over Europe.