Skip to content
riveryas
EN

River

River Clyde

176 km from source to mouth · United Kingdom.

United KingdomUnited KingdomFlows into Firth of Clyde7th longest in United Kingdom

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

176km

Average flow

90m³/s

Basin

4,100km²

Drop

273m

from 271 m to -2 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

176 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 23 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

271 m-2 m
Sourceat 271 m0 km
Falls of Clyde82 km
Bonnington Pavilion82 km
Avon Watertributary120 km
Strathclyde Loch0.7 km²121 km
Glasgow626,410 people149 km
Firth of Clydeat -2 m176 km
050100150176 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 271 m
  2. 71 kmMedwin Watertributary
  3. 75 kmHyndford Bridge
  4. 81 kmBonnington Linn
  5. 81 kmBonnington Linn Weir
  6. 82 kmFalls of Clyde
  7. 82 kmCorra Linn
  8. 82 kmBonnington Pavilion
  9. 82 kmBonnington Power Station
  10. 83 kmNew Lanark Mill dam
  11. 83 kmDundaff Linn
  12. 85 kmLanark8,880 people
  13. 87 kmClydesholm Bridge
  14. 89 kmStonebyres Hydoelectric Scheme weir
  15. 90 kmStonebyres Falls
  16. 90 kmStonebyres Power Station
  17. 95 kmMouse Watertributary
  18. 102 kmMauldslie Bridge
  19. 103 kmLaw3,250 people
  20. 104 kmDalserf17,985 people
  21. 104 kmAshgill1,460 people
  22. 106 kmWishaw30,050 people
  23. 106 kmOvertown2,110 people
  24. 107 kmLarkhall15,030 people
  25. 113 kmdesigned landscape at Dalzell House
  26. 116 kmMotherwell32,840 people
  27. 117 kmHamilton54,480 people
  28. 117 kmClyde Bridge
  29. 120 kmAvon Watertributary
  30. 121 kmStrathclyde Loch0.7 km²
  31. 123 kmBothwell Bridge
  32. 124 kmBothwell6,410 people
  33. 127 kmBlantyre17,090 people
  34. 127 kmHigh Blantyre16,739 people
  35. 130 kmUddingston5,610 people
  36. 130 kmRailway Viaduct, Clyde River, Uddingston
  37. 133 kmNorth Calder Watertributary
  38. 137 kmWestburn Viaduct
  39. 137 kmRotten Caldertributary
  40. 138 kmCambuslang30,790 people
  41. 144 kmRutherglen30,950 people
  42. 149 kmAlbert Bridge
  43. 149 kmGlasgow626,410 people
  44. 149 kmVictoria Bridge
  45. 149 kmSouth Portland Street Suspension Bridge
  46. 149 kmGlasgow Bridge
  47. 150 kmCaledonian Railway Bridge
  48. 150 kmGeorge V Bridge
  49. 151 kmTradeston Bridge
  50. 151 kmKingston Bridge
  51. 152 kmClyde Arc
  52. 153 kmBell's Bridge
  53. 155 kmGovan-Partick Bridge
  54. 159 kmRiver Kelvintributary
  55. 163 kmRenfrew24,270 people
  56. 165 kmRenfrew Bridge
  57. 168 kmClydebank25,620 people
  58. 169 kmInchinnan1,910 people
  59. 170 kmDuntocher7,036 people
  60. 170 kmDalmuir8,933 people
  61. 172 kmErskine15,530 people
  62. 174 kmOld Kilpatrick4,850 people
  63. 175 kmErskine Bridge
  64. 176 kmNewark Castle
  65. 176 kmDunglass Castle
  66. 176 kmFinlaystone House
  67. 176 kmMemorial to Henry Bell
  68. 176 kmEast Lodge, Finlaystone House
  69. 176 kmtimber ponds 505m NE of Finlaystone House
  70. 176 kmFirth of Clydeat -2 m

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

River in Scotland rising in Lanarkshire and flowing through Glasgow to the Firth of Clyde

At the mouth it carries 90 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 28 seconds. It drops from 271 m to -2 m, 1.6 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 4,100 km², about the size of CV. 1.6 million 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

  • GlasgowLargest city on its banks · 626,410 people
  • Glasgow Airport (GLA)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 12 km from the cityCar hire at GLA airport (Glasgow)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water14 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe6 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to AugustThe best months to visit

River Clyde, month by month

Highest water: from November to January

Best months to visit: from June to August.

150
3°121 mmJan
110
3°81 mmFeb
99
5°93 mmMar
65
7°61 mmApr
50
10°69 mmMay
41
13°68 mmJun
43
14°77 mmJul
59
14°94 mmAug
93
12°116 mmSep
120
9°124 mmOct
140
5°121 mmNov
150
4°123 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 41 m³/s in the lowest month to 150 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 GLA airport (Glasgow)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 Clyde: the basin in numbers

2,970 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 1.2% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 1.6millionpeople live in the basin
  • 555/km²people per km²
  • 214maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,242mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 7.5°Caverage air temperature
  • 6%protected areas
  • 0.5%covered by lakes
  • 0.0km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 1% Forest
  • 19% Cropland
  • 61% Pasture
  • 22% 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 Clyde: what you find on the way

  • 3Dams
  • 20WeirsBonninton Linn Weir, Mill Weir, Stonebyres Hydroelectric Scheme Weir and 17 more
  • 30LocksBoghouse Lock No 36, Boghouse Middle Lock No 34, Boghouse Bottom Lock No 35 and 27 more
  • 5WaterfallsBonnington Linn, Corra Linn, Dunduff Linn and 2 more
  • 5RapidsTriple Falls and 4 more
  • 1Canoe put-insClyde at Stonebyres
  • 8Boat rampsBraehead and 7 more
  • 5Ferry piersBroomielaw Quay Pontoon, Plantation Quay, Renfrew Slipway and 2 more
  • 1MarinasInchinnan Cruising Club
  • 1River beachesBodden Boo

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

River Clyde 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.

  • 6waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
  • 18mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 1island off the mouthIslandyas

Waterfalls (6)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Bonnington Linnkm 55
  2. Falls of Clydekm 56
  3. Corra Linnkm 56
  4. Bonnington Pavilionkm 56
  5. Dundaff Linnkm 57
  6. Stonebyres Fallskm 61

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Strathclyde Lochkm 820.7km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Beaches (1)

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

  1. Cardwell Bay21 km away · cove15.0°C

Open Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (18)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Queensberry14 km away697m
  2. Wedder Law11 km away · prominence 137 m672m
  3. Crown of Scotland12 km away538m
  4. Annanhead Hill10 km away478m
  5. Arbory Hill10 km away429m
  6. Glenwhappen Rig14 km away384m
  7. Lowther Hill7.1 km away
  8. Green Lowther5.7 km away

10 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (1)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. St Patrick's Rock0.4 km away

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

River Clyde: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
River Clyde: 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 Clyde in pictures

Clyde sandbanks, Tail of the Bank and Ardmore Point
dave souza · CC BY-SA 4.0
ARA Atlantis (IMO 9354375) Clyde estuary 2017
Niels Johannes · CC BY-SA 4.0
The source of the Clyde
Clydiee · CC BY-SA 4.0
Along the Clyde, near the Erskine bridge (6227414099)
marsupium photography · CC BY-SA 2.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (15)

Also: River Kelvin, River Leven, Douglas Water, River Nethan, Avon Water, North Calder Water, River Cart, Rotten Calder, Duneaton Water, Daer Water, Mouse Water, Elvan Water, Medwin Water, Molendinar Burn, Camps Water

Nearby

Rivers nearby

River ForthUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom47 km61 m³/s46 km awayRiver TayUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom193 km170 m³/s86 km awayRiver TweedUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom156 km89 m³/s155 km awayRiver BannUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom137 km130 m³/s166 km awayRiver DeeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom154 km44 m³/s200 km awayRiver SpeyUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom172 km64 m³/s212 km awayRiver TyneUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom100 km63 m³/s217 km awayRiver DonUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom131 km21 m³/s202 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q19721) · 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 atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas, 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