The highest hills in each country and county
The highest hill in Scotland is Ben Nevis (1,344.5 m), in Wales Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa (1,085 m), in Ireland Carrauntoohil (1,038.6 m), in England Scafell Pike (978.1 m) and on the Isle of Man Snaefell (621 m). The gap between Scotland and the rest is wide: 56 Scottish hills on this site are higher than Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa, the highest point outside Scotland.
The five highest in each country
| Country | Five highest on this site | |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | Ben Nevis 1,344.5 m, Ben Macdui 1,309.3 m, Braeriach 1,295.5 m, Cairn Toul 1,292.4 m, Sgor an Lochain Uaine 1,258 m | Ben Nevis 1,344.5 m, Ben Macdui 1,309.3 m, Braeriach 1,295.5 m |
| England | Scafell Pike 978.1 m, Scafell 963.9 m, Helvellyn 949.8 m, Skiddaw 930.4 m, Great End 909.5 m | Scafell Pike 978.1 m, Scafell 963.9 m, Helvellyn 949.8 m |
| Wales | Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa 1,085 m, Carnedd Llewelyn 1,061.8 m, Glyder Fawr 1,000.9 m, Y Garn (Gwynedd, SH630595) 946 m, Elidir Fawr 924 m | Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa 1,085 m, Carnedd Llewelyn 1,061.8 m, Glyder Fawr 1,000.9 m |
| Ireland | Carrauntoohil 1,038.6 m, Knocknapeasta 985.1 m, Brandon Mountain 951.7 m, Lugnaquillia Mountain 924.7 m, Galtymore 917.9 m | Carrauntoohil 1,038.6 m, Knocknapeasta 985.1 m, Brandon Mountain 951.7 m |
| Isle of Man | Snaefell 621 m | Snaefell 621 m |
Highest first. The Isle of Man has one hill on this site.
Scotland's fifth highest, Sgor an Lochain Uaine at 1,258 m, is still 173 m higher than Snowdon. Counting hills of 1,000 m or more on this site gives 137 in Scotland, three in Wales, one in Ireland and none in England. Of the high points of Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England, only Scafell Pike, at 978.1 m, is below 1,000 m.
Wales and Ireland are closer than their high points suggest. Snowdon is 46.4 m higher than Carrauntoohil, and both are a long way from any higher ground: Snowdon's nearest higher summit is 368.4 km away in Scotland and Carrauntoohil's is Snowdon itself, 401.2 km to the east. More on that in The most isolated hills in Britain and Ireland.
How the countries compare
Height is one measure; the amount of high ground is another. The database records far more hills in Scotland than anywhere else, and Scotland holds nearly all of the 3,000 ft summits. Ireland has fewer hills in total than Wales but 2.8 times as many Marilyns, a sign that its mountains rise as separate groups from low ground rather than as long ridges with many small tops.
| Country | All hills in DoBIH | Marilyns | 3,000 ft+ | On this site | Median height here | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 12,422 | 1,218 | 630 | 737 | 855.6 m | 737 here · 630 of 3,000 ft+ in the database |
| England | 4,745 | 173 | 11 | 242 | 667.9 m | 242 here · 11 of 3,000 ft+ in the database |
| Wales | 2,654 | 159 | 16 | 56 | 726.2 m | 56 here · 16 of 3,000 ft+ in the database |
| Ireland | 1,664 | 452 | 14 | 104 | 690 m | 104 here · 14 of 3,000 ft+ in the database |
| Isle of Man | 54 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 621 m | 1 here · 0 of 3,000 ft+ in the database |
DoBIH columns count every hill in the database for that country. “On this site” counts the Munros, Wainwrights and Marilyns of 600 m or more profiled here.
3,000 ft summits outside Scotland
Outside Scotland, 15 hills on this site reach 3,000 ft (914.4 m). By country: Wales, six: Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa (1,085 m, Gwynedd), Carnedd Llewelyn (1,061.8 m, Conwy, Gwynedd), Glyder Fawr (1,000.9 m, Conwy, Gwynedd), Y Garn (946 m, Gwynedd), Elidir Fawr (924 m, Gwynedd), Tryfan (917.5 m, Conwy); Ireland, five: Carrauntoohil (1,038.6 m, Kerry), Knocknapeasta (985.1 m, Kerry), Brandon Mountain (951.7 m, Kerry), Lugnaquillia Mountain (924.7 m, Wicklow), Galtymore (917.9 m, Limerick, Tipperary); England, four: Scafell Pike (978.1 m, Cumberland), Scafell (963.9 m, Cumberland), Helvellyn (949.8 m, Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness), Skiddaw (930.4 m, Cumberland). All of them are on the Furths list, the name for the 3,000 ft summits of England, Wales and Ireland, which the database counts at 34 including smaller tops.
The highest hill in each county
The database records a present-day county or council area for every hill, such as Highland, Gwynedd, Cumberland or Kerry. A hill on a boundary is recorded under both, so “Aberdeenshire, Moray” is a separate entry from “Aberdeenshire”. The table covers the 40 county entries with three or more hills on this site, 13 of which are boundary entries.
County entries with three or more hills profiled here, ordered by their highest hill.
Highland dominates: 427 of the 1,140 hills on this site are recorded there alone, with a median height of 868.9 m. In England the two Cumbrian entries, Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness, hold 114 and 103 hills, almost all Wainwrights. Classed by the first list they belong to, the 40 county high points in the table are 16 Munros, 11 Hewitts, five Furths (3,000 ft summits outside Scotland), five Corbetts, two Wainwrights and one Graham. The lowest county high point in the table is Hungry Hill in Cork, at 685 m.
County tops as a list
The county tops list in the database records the highest point of each historic county, which is a different set of boundaries from those above. It has 111 hills, from Ben Nevis (1,344.5 m) down to Boring Field at just 80.8 m. Of these, 51 are profiled here. The other 60 are neither Munros nor Wainwrights nor Marilyns of 600 m or more, so they fall outside this register.
In the finder: show the 51 county tops profiled here
Every county page lists its hills by height with their drop and lists, and every hill page gives the hill's rank within its county and country. For the Scottish summits in detail, read How high are the Munros?.
Sources
- Contains data from The Database of British and Irish Hills v18.6 (www.hill-bagging.co.uk/dobih), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Distances, ranks and comparisons are our own calculations. hill-bagging.co.uk/dobih, licence.
- How drop, isolation and ranks are worked out: Data & methodology.