River Ouse, Yorkshire

River Ouse
The River Ouse in York
River Ouse
Location
Country	England
County	Yorkshire
Physical characteristics
Source	River Ure
• location	Cuddy Shaw Reach, near Linton-on-Ouse
• coordinates	54°2′4″N 1°16′30″W / 54.03444°N 1.27500°W / 54.03444; -1.27500
• elevation	33 ft (10 m)
Mouth	Humber estuary
• location	Trent Falls
• coordinates	53°42′8″N 0°41′46″W / 53.70222°N 0.69611°W / 53.70222; -0.69611
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	52 mi (84 km)
Basin size	4,133 sq mi (10,704 km2)
Discharge
• location	Skelton[1]
• average	1,830 cu ft/s (51.7 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Derwent
• right	Nidd, Wharfe, Aire, Don

v t e River Ouse, Yorkshire
Legend
River Ure Cuddy Shaw Reach Linton Lock Beningbrough Hall River Nidd Skelton Bridge ECML  A1237  Holgate Beck Clifton Bridge Scarborough Bridge Lendal Bridge Ouse Bridge Skeldergate Bridge River Foss Millennium Bridge  A64  Naburn Swing Bridge Naburn Marina Naburn Lock River Wharfe Cawood Bridge  A19  Selby Swing Bridge Selby Canal  A63  River Derwent River Aire  A614  Boothferry Bridge  M62  Ouse Bridge Howden Dyke Island Goole railway swing bridge Goole Docks Dutch River River Trent Trent Falls Humber Estuary

The River Ouse (/uːz/ OOZ) is a river in North Yorkshire, England. Hydrologically, the river is a continuation of the River Ure, and the combined length of the River Ure and River Ouse makes it, at 129 miles (208 km), the sixth-longest river of the United Kingdom and (including the Ure) the longest to flow entirely in one county. The length of the Ouse alone is about 52 miles (84 km) but the total length of the river is disputed.

It is a matter of opinion as to whether the River Ouse is formed at the confluence of the River Ure and the much-smaller Ouse Gill Beck at Cuddy Shaw Reach near Linton-on-Ouse, about six miles downstream of the confluence of the River Swale with the River Ure. An alternative opinion is recorded in a publication published in The Yorkshire Post in a series dated 1891, written and illustrated by Tom Bradley. His description and bird's-eye-view maps—specifically in his account of the River Swale—suggests that the River Ouse starts at the confluence of the Swale and the Ure. His narrative states that the Ouse has no specific source, simply flowing from the stated confluence until it runs into the Humber at the confluence of the Ouse and Trent.

Continuing the path of the Ouse downstream from Linton-on-Ouse, it then flows through the city of York and the nearby towns of Selby and Goole before joining with the River Trent at Trent Falls, near the village of Faxfleet, then entering the Humber estuary.

The Ouse's system of tributaries includes the Derwent, Aire, Don, Hipper, Wharfe, Rother, Nidd, Swale, Ure and Foss. Together they drain a large part of the Pennines, and much of the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors.

The Ouse valley is a wide, flat plain; heavy rainfall higher in the river's drainage basin can bring severe flooding to settlements. In recent years York, Selby and villages in between have been flooded.