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River

Senne

103 km from source to mouth · Belgium.

BelgiumBelgiumFlows into Dyle / Dijle4th longest in Belgium

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

103km

Average flow

5.5m³/s

Basin

1,164km²

Drop

100m

from 54 m to -46 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

103 km of river and 47 stops on the way: 38 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

54 m-46 m
Naastat 54 m0 km
Rebecq-Rognon10,049 people10 km
Tubize25,914 people24 km
Halle39,096 people33 km
Beersel23,228 people40 km
Anderlecht160,553 people53 km
Brussels195,546 people57 km
Maelbeek - Maalbeektributary72 km
Vilvoorde44,015 people74 km
Mechelen86,921 people86 km
Dyle / Dijleat -46 m103 km
0255075103 km
  1. 0 kmNaastat 54 m
  2. 0 kmHorrues2,416 people
  3. 10 kmRebecq-Rognon10,049 people
  4. 17 kmQuenast3,226 people
  5. 24 kmTubize25,914 people
  6. 25 kmClabecq4,782 people
  7. 27 kmLembeek7,689 people
  8. 33 kmHalle39,096 people
  9. 35 kmBuizingen6,369 people
  10. 37 kmHuizingen3,172 people
  11. 40 kmLot4,698 people
  12. 40 kmBeersel23,228 people
  13. 43 kmZuun4,709 people
  14. 44 kmRuisbroek6,043 people
  15. 46 kmDrogenbos4,843 people
  16. 47 kmNegenmanneke6,915 people
  17. 48 kmZuunbeek - Zuenbeektributary
  18. 48 kmLinkebeektributary
  19. 48 kmUccle82,929 people
  20. 50 kmForest56,254 people
  21. 53 kmAnderlecht160,553 people
  22. 54 kmSaint-Gilles50,221 people
  23. 55 kmMolenbeek-Saint-Jean97,037 people
  24. 55 kmÉcluse du Midi - Zuidersluis
  25. 57 kmBrussels195,546 people
  26. 58 kmKoekelberg21,984 people
  27. 59 kmSaint-Josse-ten-Noode27,366 people
  28. 60 kmJette52,490 people
  29. 63 kmSchaerbeek132,761 people
  30. 66 kmEvere41,667 people
  31. 70 kmDiegem5,001 people
  32. 72 kmMaelbeek - Maalbeektributary
  33. 73 kmMachelen12,252 people
  34. 74 kmVilvoorde44,015 people
  35. 77 kmHavendoklaanbrug
  36. 78 kmSluistoren
  37. 81 kmMaalbeektributary
  38. 82 kmHumbeek4,464 people
  39. 83 kmZemst23,325 people
  40. 86 kmMechelen86,921 people
  41. 90 kmKapelle-op-den-Bos8,859 people
  42. 92 kmRamsdonk1,500 people
  43. 94 kmTisselt3,428 people
  44. 98 kmBlaasveld4,367 people
  45. 99 kmWillebroek22,808 people
  46. 100 kmHazewinkel0.7 km²
  47. 102 kmZennegat bridge
  48. 103 kmBoom15,810 people
  49. 103 kmDyle / Dijleat -46 m

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

River in Belgium

At the mouth it carries 5.5 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 455 seconds. It drops from 54 m to -46 m, 1.0 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,164 km², about the size of MQ. 1.7 million people live in it. Highest water: from December 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

  • BrusselsLargest city on its banks · 195,546 people
  • Brussels Airport (BRU)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 11 km from the cityCar hire at BRU airport (Zaventem)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water20 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Senne, month by month

Highest water: from December to January

Best months to visit: from May to September.

25
2°69 mmJan
18
4°50 mmFeb
18
6°69 mmMar
11
10°51 mmApr
9.7
13°64 mmMay
9.6
16°71 mmJun
8.7
18°68 mmJul
6.7
18°60 mmAug
8.9
16°64 mmSep
16
12°74 mmOct
21
6°69 mmNov
24
3°69 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 6.7 m³/s in the lowest month to 25 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

Senne: the basin in numbers

1,169 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.
  • 1.7millionpeople live in the basin
  • 1,435/km²people per km²
  • 77maverage altitude of the basin
  • 810mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 10.1°Caverage air temperature
  • 3%protected areas
  • 0.1%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 3% Forest
  • 24% Cropland
  • 8% Pasture
  • 55% 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

Senne: what you find on the way

  • 4Dams
  • 16Weirs
  • 19LocksSluis Lembeek, Sluis Halle, Sluis nr 8 - Lot and 16 more
  • 3WaterfallsCascade de Coeurcq
  • 3Boat ramps
  • 10Ferry piersSainctelette, Quai des Péniches - Akenkaai, Pont Van Praet - Van Praet brug and 7 more
  • 5MarinasDok 3, yachtclub Volante and 3 more
  • 2Boat rentalsDobber De Schorre

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Senne 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

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Hazewinkelkm 660.7km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Senne: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Senne: 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

Senne in pictures

Rebecq JPG05
Jean-Pol GRANDMONT · CC BY 2.0
Battel Zenne 1
Torsade de Pointes · CC0
De Zennevallei nabij Rebecq
Spotter2 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Vilvoorde - gedempte Zenne
Wormke-Grutman · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (7)

Also: Maelbeek - Maalbeek, Woluwe, Sennette, Zuunbeek - Zuenbeek, Maalbeek, Brainette, Linkebeek

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q845920) · 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 — 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