About the Lake District National Park

The Lake District National Park is England's largest and covers:

• 2362 square kilometres, or 912 square miles
• 583,747 acres, or 236,234 hectares
• Width (west to east): 58 km or 36 miles
• Length (north to south): 64 km or 40 miles

Facts about lakes and coastline

• The deepest lake in England is Wastwater at 74 metres (243 feet)
• England's longest lake is Windermere which is 10.5 miles long
• There is only one official lake - Bassenthwaite Lake. All the others are 'meres' or 'waters'
• The National Park includes 26 miles of coastline and estuaries

The weather

Temperature in Ambleside, roughly at the heart of the Lake District National Park:

Maximum temperature
July: 19.9 °C
January: 6.8 °C

Minimum temperature
July: 11.8 °C
January: 1.1 °C

Annual rainfall:
in Ambleside: 2061mm
in Seathwaite, the wettest inhabited place in England: 3552mm

The tallest mountains, also known as "fells"

1. Scafell Pike at 978 metres (3210 feet)
2. Scafell at 964 metres (3162 feet)
3. Helvellyn at 950 metres (3114 feet)
4. Skiddaw at 931 metres (3053 feet)
5. Great End at 910 metres (2986 feet)
6. Bowfell at 902 metres (2940 feet)
7. Great Gable at 899 metres (2960 feet)
8. Pillar at 892 metres (2926 feet)
9. Nethermost Pike at 891 metres (2923 feet)
10. Catstycam at 889 metres (2917 feet)

There are at least 200 fell tops.
The famous writer Alfred Wainwright wrote about 214.

The largest lakes

1. Windermere - 14.8 square kilometres
2. Ullswater - 8.9 square kilometres
3. Derwentwater - 5.5 square kilometres
4. Bassenthwaite Lake - 5.3 square kilometres
5. Coniston Water - 4.0 square kilometres
6. Haweswater - 3.9 square kilometres
7. Thirlmere - 3.3 square kilometres
8. Ennerdale Water - 3 square kilometres
9. Wastwater - 2.9 square kilometres
10. Crummock Water - 2.5 square kilometres
11. Esthwaite Water - 1 square kilometre
12. Buttermere - 0.9 square kilometres
13. Grasmere - 0.6 square kilometres
14. Loweswater - 0.6 square kilometres
15. Rydal Water - 0.3 square kilometres
16. Brotherswater - 0.2 square kilometres
17. Elterwater - 0.19 square kilometres

The tarns

Tarn comes from the Old Norse word for 'pool'. It usually refers to a small mountain lake or pool.
However, as some tarns are larger than lakes, it's not an exact science! Here are some of the larger ones:

• Blea Tarn
• Little Langdale Tarn
• Overwater Tarn
• Stickle Tarn
• Tarn Hows
• Watendlath Tarn
• Yew Tree Tarn