Earth from Space: Lake District, UK

The varied landscape of England’s Lake District is featured in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

Zoom in or click on the circles to explore this image at its full 10 m resolution.

Located in northwest England in the county of Cumbria, the Lake District is shaped by a harmonious mix of several natural landforms, and extends to the coast of the Irish Sea, facing the Isle of Man, partly visible in the far left of the image. Lakes, hills, valleys, woodland, settlements and farmland combine to give life to England’s largest national park, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.

As we see in the image, the Lake District features a roughly circular core of mountains, deeply carved by valleys of glacial origin, hosting long, narrow lakes in their hollows. The region is home to England’s highest peak, Scafell Pike, which reaches an elevation of 978 m. On a clear day, the view can span from the Galloway Hills of Scotland to the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland, as well as the Isle of Man, and Eryri (Snowdonia) in Wales.

As the name suggests, the area is home to the principal lakes of England, including the largest, Windermere, whose elongated shape can be seen south of the central massif. Next to Windermere is Coniston Water and further west are Wasdale valley and Wastwater, the deepest lake in England.

Northwest of Wastwater lies Derwentwater, studded with wooded islands, and further east is Ullswater, the second largest lake in the region, known for the daffodils that inspired Wordsworth’s famous poem of the same name.

While the higher hills – also known as fells – are mainly rocky, deciduous native woodland occurs on many of the lower, steeper slopes. Extensive agriculture and farmland can be seen lower down around the mountains, interspersed with villages and settlements which appear as grey areas.

The Lake District is also home to varied freshwater habitats, such as mires, lakeshore wetlands, coastal heath, dunes and a number of estuaries, including Morecambe Bay, visible in the bottom right corner of the image. Covering an area of 310 sq km, Morecambe Bay is the UK’s largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand and supports a wealth of wildlife, with abundant bird and marine species.

Zooming in off the coast of Morecambe Bay, the turbines of several offshore wind farms stand out as white dots in the Irish Sea water.