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River

River Bann

137 km from source to mouth · United Kingdom.

United KingdomUnited KingdomFlows into North Channel

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

137km

Average flow

130m³/s

Basin

5,715km²

Drop

78m

from 78 m to 0 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

137 km of river and 12 stops on the way: 7 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

78 m0 m
Sourceat 78 m0 km
Banbridge14,744 people18 km
Lough Gullion0.7 km²43 km
River Blackwatertributary53 km
Lough Neagh375 km²81 km
Lough Beg5.4 km²88 km
Kilrea1,616 people106 km
North Channelat 0 m137 km
050100137 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 78 m
  2. 18 kmBanbridge14,744 people
  3. 29 kmGilford1,583 people
  4. 37 kmPortadown32,926 people
  5. 43 kmLough Gullion0.7 km²
  6. 53 kmRiver Blackwatertributary
  7. 81 kmLough Neagh375 km²
  8. 88 kmLough Beg5.4 km²
  9. 95 kmPortglenone1,230 people
  10. 106 kmKilrea1,616 people
  11. 130 kmColeraine25,681 people
  12. 130 kmBann Bridge
  13. 136 kmPortstewart8,394 people
  14. 137 kmNorth Channelat 0 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

The longest river in Northern Ireland

At the mouth it carries 134 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 19 seconds. It drops from 78 m to 0 m, 0.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 5,715 km², about the size of BN. 556,000 people live in it. Highest water: from November to January. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • PortadownLargest city on its banks · 32,926 people
  • Belfast International Airport (BFS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 30 km from the cityCar hire at BFS airport (Belfast)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water12 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to AugustThe best months to visit

River Bann, month by month

Highest water: from November to January

Best months to visit: from June to August.

180
3°97 mmJan
160
4°67 mmFeb
140
6°72 mmMar
110
7°59 mmApr
93
10°61 mmMay
83
13°67 mmJun
85
15°76 mmJul
100
14°91 mmAug
120
12°98 mmSep
150
10°102 mmOct
170
6°96 mmNov
180
4°98 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 83 m³/s in the lowest month to 180 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

River Bann: the basin in numbers

5,715 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 556,000people live in the basin
  • 98/km²people per km²
  • 102maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,000mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 8.4°Caverage air temperature
  • 18%protected areas
  • 6.8%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 3% Forest
  • 18% Cropland
  • 63% Pasture
  • 4% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

River Bann: what you find on the way

  • 5Dams
  • 35WeirsEel Weir, Glenone Bridge Weir, The Cutts and 32 more
  • 8LocksToome Canal and 7 more
  • 2Waterfalls
  • 10Boat ramps
  • 2MarinasPortglenone Marina, Coleraine Marina
  • 1River beachesPortstewart Strand

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.7 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

River Bann in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 3lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 3beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
  • 13mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 2islands off the mouthIslandyas

Lakes and reservoirs (3)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lough Gullionkm 430.7km²
  2. Lough Neaghkm 81 · 25 m deep375km²
  3. Lough Begkm 895.4km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Beaches (3)

At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya

  1. Portstewart Strand1.6 km away14.2°C
  2. Portstewart Beachkm 13714.1°C
  3. Benone Beach8.6 km away14.2°C

Open Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (13)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Slieve Donard7.5 km away · prominence 825 m849m
  2. Slieve Commedagh6.6 km away · prominence 180 m767m
  3. Slieve Bearnagh3.4 km away727m
  4. Slieve Muck3.4 km away · prominence 350 m674m
  5. Slievelamagan4.5 km away702m
  6. Slieve Meelbeg2.3 km away · prominence 193 m702m
  7. Slieve Meelmore3.3 km away704m
  8. Ben Crom3.0 km away · prominence 81 m526m

5 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (2)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. Sheep Island26 km away0.0km²
  2. Carrick-a-Rede27 km away

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

River Bann: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
River Bann: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

River Bann in pictures

Bann in Coleraine
Clemensfranz · CC BY 2.5
River Bann The Cutts
JohnDMichael111 · CC BY-SA 4.0
River Bann at Coleraine
Hellish at English Wikipedia · Public domain
Bannfoot
Alastair Rae · CC BY-SA 2.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (1)

Also: River Blackwater

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q19691) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit