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River

River Severn

354 km from source to mouth · United Kingdom.

United KingdomUnited KingdomFlows into Bristol Channel1st longest in United Kingdom

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

354km

Average flow

110m³/s

Basin

11,420km²

Drop

147m

from 148 m to 1 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

354 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 33 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

148 m1 m
Sourceat 148 m0 km
River Camladtributary57 km
Llandrinio1,485 people78 km
Shrewsbury76,802 people123 km
River Terntributary139 km
Chelmarsh Reservoir0.4 km²189 km
River Stourtributary220 km
Worcester101,891 people242 km
River Avontributary274 km
Gloucester145,563 people300 km
Bristol Channelat 1 m354 km
0100200300354 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 148 m
  2. 0 kmLlanidloes2,798 people
  3. 0 kmShort Bridge,Short Bridge Street
  4. 13 kmLlandinam942 people
  5. 30 kmThe Long Bridge
  6. 31 kmNewtown11,357 people
  7. 37 kmCilgwrgan Bridge
  8. 40 kmAbermule900 people
  9. 41 kmBrynderwen Bridge
  10. 48 kmCaerhowel Bridge
  11. 57 kmRiver Camladtributary
  12. 60 kmWelshpool6,664 people
  13. 65 kmButtington Bridge
  14. 78 kmLlandrinio1,485 people
  15. 79 kmLlandrinio Bridge
  16. 91 kmRiver Vyrnwytributary
  17. 100 kmFord890 people
  18. 122 kmWelsh Bridge
  19. 122 kmPorthill Bridge
  20. 123 kmShrewsbury76,802 people
  21. 123 kmKingsland Bridge
  22. 124 kmEnglish Bridge
  23. 129 kmUffington289 people
  24. 137 kmAtcham Bridge
  25. 137 kmAtcham594 people
  26. 139 kmRiver Terntributary
  27. 144 kmCound476 people
  28. 149 kmCressage884 people
  29. 156 kmBuildwas321 people
  30. 159 kmAlbert Edward Bridge
  31. 161 kmIronbridge2,582 people
  32. 161 kmThe Iron Bridge
  33. 161 kmBroseley5,644 people
  34. 162 kmJackfield Free Bridge
  35. 166 kmCoalport Bridge
  36. 180 kmBridgnorth12,079 people
  37. 189 kmChelmarsh Reservoir0.4 km²
  38. 195 kmHighley3,733 people
  39. 202 kmUpper Arley765 people
  40. 202 kmArley footbridge
  41. 203 kmVictoria Bridge
  42. 209 kmBewdley Bridge
  43. 209 kmBewdley9,262 people
  44. 216 kmAreley Kings6,041 people
  45. 217 kmStourport-on-Severn20,654 people
  46. 220 kmRiver Stourtributary
  47. 229 kmHolt Fleet Bridge
  48. 242 kmWorcester Railway Bridge
  49. 242 kmWorcester Bridge
  50. 242 kmWorcester101,891 people
  51. 244 kmDiglis Bridge
  52. 247 kmRiver Temetributary
  53. 250 kmKempsey4,365 people
  54. 262 kmUpton upon Severn2,881 people
  55. 273 kmMythe Bridge
  56. 274 kmRiver Avontributary
  57. 274 kmTewkesbury10,704 people
  58. 279 kmDeerhurst936 people
  59. 297 kmRiver Chelttributary
  60. 300 kmGloucester145,563 people
  61. 301 kmRiver Leadontributary
  62. 310 kmMinsterworth468 people
  63. 321 kmFrampton on Severn1,465 people
  64. 332 kmNewnham1,298 people
  65. 350 kmSevern Railway Bridge
  66. 352 kmLydney10,038 people
  67. 353 kmLittle Avon Rivertributary
  68. 353 kmBerkeley2,174 people
  69. 353 kmOldbury-on-Severn780 people
  70. 354 kmBristol Channelat 1 m

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

River in the United Kingdom

At the mouth it carries 107 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 23 seconds. It drops from 148 m to 1 m, 0.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 11,420 km², about the size of QA. 2.7 million people live in it. Highest water: from December to January. Its dams hold back little of its water (2.2% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • GloucesterLargest city on its banks · 145,563 people
  • Bristol Airport (BRS)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 63 km from the cityCar hire at BRS airport (Bristol)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water41 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe2 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to SeptemberThe best months to visit

River Severn, month by month

Highest water: from December to January

Best months to visit: from June to September.

300
3°64 mmJan
240
4°46 mmFeb
190
6°53 mmMar
130
8°48 mmApr
120
11°58 mmMay
97
14°56 mmJun
81
16°52 mmJul
92
16°64 mmAug
130
13°65 mmSep
160
10°59 mmOct
220
6°67 mmNov
280
4°70 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 81 m³/s in the lowest month to 300 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

Car hire at GLO airport (Staverton, Gloucestershire)Discover CarsSee 

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 Severn: the basin in numbers

10,975 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 2.2% of a year's flow.
  • 2.7millionpeople live in the basin
  • 243/km²people per km²
  • 140maverage altitude of the basin
  • 792mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 8.9°Caverage air temperature
  • 17%protected areas
  • 0.1%covered by lakes
  • 0.1km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 1% Forest
  • 40% Cropland
  • 34% Pasture
  • 9% 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 Severn: what you find on the way

  • 10Dams
  • 35WeirsLincomb Weir, Holt Weir, Bevere Weir and 32 more
  • 138LocksDolfor Lock, Freestone Lock, Montgomery Canal and 135 more
  • 3WaterfallsLoamhole Waterfall
  • 1RapidsJackfield Rapids
  • 1Canoe put-ins
  • 25Boat rampsShrewsbury Canoe Hire, Frankwell Quay Slipway, Lydney Slip and 22 more
  • 3Ferry piersSabrina Boat
  • 11MarinasPengwern Boat Club, Shrewsbury School Boathouses, York Street Boatyard (Limekiln) and 8 more
  • 2Boat rentalsCanoe Safari

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

River Severn 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.

  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 192mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 1island off the mouthIslandyas

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Chelmarsh Reservoirkm 1400.4km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (192)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Pumlumon Fawr4.3 km away · prominence 526 m752m
  2. Pen Pumlumon Arwystli2.3 km away · prominence 64 m741m
  3. Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan3.5 km away · prominence 36 m727m
  4. Pen y Garn13 km away · prominence 194 m611m
  5. Y Garn6.6 km away · prominence 56 m684m
  6. Pumlumon Fach4.1 km away664m
  7. Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan [Plynlimon East Top]3.1 km away724m
  8. Pumlumon Cwmbiga1.3 km away620m

184 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (1)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. Denny Island29 km away0.0km²

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

River Severn: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
River Severn: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth14 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 Severn in pictures

River Severn at Atcham, Shropshire
Christian David · CC BY-SA 4.0
Aust slipway near the Severn Bridge, Old Aust Ferry, River Severn. Viewed from Beachley
Rosser1954 · CC BY 4.0
Beachley slipway and Severn Bridge, Old Aust Ferry, River Severn
Rosser1954 · CC BY 4.0
Blakeney MMB 01 River Severn
mattbuck ( category ) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (19)

River AvonUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom154 km31 m³/sjoins at km 203

Also: River Taff, River Teme, River Vyrnwy, River Tern, Alma River, River Stour, Afon Clywedog, River Camlad, River Leadon, River Carno, Little Avon River, River Chelt, River Frome, River Lyd, River Perry, River Salwarpe, River Worfe, Afon Dulas, Llanidloes

Nearby

Rivers nearby

River WyeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom215 km100 m³/s17 km awayRiver AvonUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom154 km31 m³/s38 km awayRiver ThamesUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom334 km66 m³/s196 km awayRiver AvonUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom96 km56 m³/s123 km awayRiver ExeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom88 km16 m³/s134 km awayRiver DerwentUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom80 km29 m³/s151 km awayRiver DeeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom110 km30 m³/s174 km awayRiver TamarUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom98 km50 m³/s184 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q19682) · 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, 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