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River

River Dee

154 km from source to mouth · United Kingdom.

United KingdomUnited KingdomFlows into North Sea

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

154km

Average flow

44m³/s

Basin

2,100km²

Drop

373m

from 377 m to 4 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

154 km of river and 59 stops on the way: 8 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

377 m4 m
Sourceat 377 m0 km
Linn of Quoich14 km
designed landscape at Balmoral Castle36 km
Balmoral Castle37 km
River Muicktributary60 km
Loch Kinord0.6 km²71 km
Water of Tanartributary83 km
Woodend House102 km
Water of Feughtributary115 km
Park House124 km
Maryculter House135 km
North Seaat 4 m154 km
050100154 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 377 m
  2. 0 kmChest of Dee
  3. 3 kmMar, townships, enclosures, stills, kilns, Dubrach to E of Dalvorar
  4. 7 kmLinn of Dee Bridge
  5. 7 kmLinn of Dee
  6. 12 kmVictoria Bridge, Mar Lodge Estate
  7. 14 kmLinn of Quoich
  8. 25 kmInvercauld Bridge
  9. 27 kmFalls of Garbh Allt
  10. 27 kmGarbh Allt Suspension Bridge
  11. 36 kmdesigned landscape at Balmoral Castle
  12. 37 kmBalmoral Castle
  13. 39 kmCrathie Girder Bridge
  14. 40 kmCrathie Suspension Bridge
  15. 43 kmSuspension Bridge, Abergeldie Castle
  16. 52 kmSuspension Bridge, Polhollick
  17. 53 kmGirnock Burntributary
  18. 57 kmRoyal Bridge
  19. 57 kmBallater1,550 people
  20. 60 kmRiver Muicktributary
  21. 61 kmPananich Lodge
  22. 62 kmMonaltrie Monument
  23. 65 kmCambus O'May Hotel Including Terraced Garden Walls And Gatepiers
  24. 66 kmSuspension Bridge, Cambus O' May
  25. 66 kmCambus Cottage including Platform, Cambus O'May
  26. 71 kmLoch Kinord0.6 km²
  27. 71 kmDinnet House
  28. 73 kmDinnet Bridge
  29. 76 kmGlen Tanar Church
  30. 80 kmBalnacoil House Hotel, Rhu-Na-Haven Road, Aboyne
  31. 82 kmAboyne Bridge
  32. 83 kmAboyne2,650 people
  33. 83 kmWater of Tanartributary
  34. 98 kmBridge of Potarch
  35. 102 kmWoodend House
  36. 112 kmBridge of Dee
  37. 113 kmBanchory7,440 people
  38. 115 kmWater of Feughtributary
  39. 124 kmPark House
  40. 127 kmPark Bridge
  41. 127 kmKeith's Tower
  42. 135 kmMaryculter House
  43. 135 kmOld Parish Church, Maryculter
  44. 136 kmPeterculter4,560 people
  45. 137 kmMaryculter Bridge
  46. 137 kmRiver Dee Bridge
  47. 138 kmMilltimber2,660 people
  48. 144 kmShakkin' Briggie
  49. 144 kmCults3,500 people
  50. 145 kmPitfoddels Castle
  51. 145 kmbridge at Moat Hill
  52. 149 kmKing George VI Bridge
  53. 150 kmNigg16,400 people
  54. 150 kmDuthie Park
  55. 150 kmFerryhill Railway Viaduct
  56. 151 kmWellington Suspension Bridge
  57. 151 kmbridge at Ruthrieston, Aberdeen
  58. 151 kmQueen Elizabeth Bridge
  59. 152 kmQueen Victoria Bridge
  60. 152 kmAberdeen200,680 people
  61. 154 kmNorth Seaat 4 m

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

River in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK, flows into the North Sea at Aberdeen

At the mouth it carries 44 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 57 seconds. It drops from 377 m to 4 m, 2.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 2,100 km², about the size of MU. 164,000 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

  • AberdeenLargest city on its banks · 200,680 people
  • Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 8 km from the cityCar hire at ABZ airport (Aberdeen)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water4 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to AugustThe best months to visit

River Dee, month by month

Highest water: from November to January

Best months to visit: from June to August.

63
2°76 mmJan
48
2°54 mmFeb
38
4°57 mmMar
29
6°50 mmApr
25
9°57 mmMay
21
12°55 mmJun
23
14°65 mmJul
30
13°73 mmAug
36
11°70 mmSep
47
9°77 mmOct
57
5°76 mmNov
61
3°73 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 21 m³/s in the lowest month to 63 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 ABZ airport (Aberdeen)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 Dee: the basin in numbers

2,130 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.
  • 164,000people live in the basin
  • 78/km²people per km²
  • 405maverage altitude of the basin
  • 949mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 6.1°Caverage air temperature
  • 56%protected areas
  • 0.2%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 10% Forest
  • 6% Cropland
  • 27% Pasture
  • 3% 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 Dee: what you find on the way

  • 7DamsMurtle Dam and 6 more
  • 1Weirs
  • 20WaterfallsChest of Dee, Linn of Dee, Falls of Allt Connie and 17 more
  • 4Ferry piersAberdeen Ferry Terminal, Eurolink Berth, Aberdeen and 1 more
  • 3River beachesAberdeen Beach, Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom Bathing Area

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

River Dee 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.

  • 4waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 6beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
  • 90mountains at the sourcePeakyas
  • 2islands off the mouthIslandyas

Waterfalls (4)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Chest of Deekm 0
  2. Linn of Deekm 6
  3. Linn of Quoichkm 12
  4. Falls of Garbh Alltkm 22

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Loch Kinordkm 580.6km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Beaches (6)

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

  1. Aberdeen Beachkm 12613.3°C
  2. Newburgh Seals Beach19 km away13.3°C
  3. Wine Cove25 km away · cove13.3°C
  4. Portlethen Bay10 km away · cove13.3°C
  5. Newtonhill Bay14 km away · cove13.3°C
  6. Hackley Bay22 km away · cove13.3°C

Open Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (90)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Ben Macdui4.3 km away · prominence 950 m1,309m
  2. Braeriach1.4 km away · prominence 461 m1,296m
  3. Cairn Toul2.2 km away · prominence 166 m1,291m
  4. Cairn Gorm7.9 km away · prominence 146 m1,245m
  5. Sgòr an Lochain Uaine1.3 km away · prominence 118 m1,258m
  6. Beinn Mheadhoin8.4 km away · prominence 254 m1,183m
  7. Beinn Bhrotain6.4 km away · prominence 258 m1,157m
  8. Derry Cairngorm7.1 km away · prominence 141 m1,155m

82 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

Islands off the mouth (2)

Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas

  1. Craigmaroinn11 km away
  2. Craiglethy26 km away

Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

River Dee: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
River Dee: 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.

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (14)

Also: River Quoich, River Gairn, Water of Feugh, Water of Tanar, River Muick, Clunie Water, Girnock Burn, Leuchar Burn, Lui Water, Geldie Burn, Feardar Burn, Gelder Burn, Burn of Cattie, Ey Burn

Nearby

Rivers nearby

River DonUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom131 km21 m³/s3 km awayRiver SpeyUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom172 km64 m³/s85 km awayRiver TayUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom193 km170 m³/s116 km awayRiver TweedUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom156 km89 m³/s154 km awayRiver ForthUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom47 km61 m³/s158 km awayRiver ClydeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom176 km90 m³/s200 km awayRiver TyneUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom100 km63 m³/s241 km awayRiver WearUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom96 km21 m³/s251 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q964949) · 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