United Kingdom 
In numbers.
1.8m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Apr
Aug–Oct
Best months
244m
Elevation
The water at Cotter Force, month by month
It roars in August and from October to March.
The fullest months: August and from October to March.
- 2.8 m³/sJan
- 2.2 m³/sFeb
- 1.8 m³/sMar
- 1.1 m³/sApr
- 0.8 m³/sMay
- 0.8 m³/sJun
- 1.2 m³/sJul
- 1.9 m³/sAug
- 1.5 m³/sSep
- 2.2 m³/sOct
- 2.7 m³/sNov
- 2.9 m³/sDec
From about 0.76 m³/s in the lowest month to 2.9 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: April and from August to October.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall in North Yorkshire, England, UK
Cotter Force is a waterfall in United Kingdom.
Getting there.
- Kirkby Stephennearest town · 19 km in a straight line
- Parking 190 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Teesside International Airport (MME)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 56 km in a straight lineCar hire at LBA airport (Leeds, West Yorkshire)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- April and from August to Octoberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
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.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 6 m in 0.3 km. Here the river runs about 44 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- 3waymarked walking routesPennine Way (Hawes to Tan Hill), Herriot Way, Lady Anne's Way
- 6car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- 2toilets
- 1information boards and visitor centres
- 1bus stops within 1 km
- 5other named waterfalls within 4 kmMossdale Gill Force, Hardraw Force, Cotter Force and 2 more
- —caves
- 6campsitesOLD HALL COTTAGE CAMPSITE, Hawes Caravan Club Site, Honeycott Caravan Park and 3 more
- 18hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmThe Crown, Herriots Guest House, Laburnum House Tea Room and 15 more
- 9restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Kirkby Stephen19 km in a straight line
- Sedbergh19 km in a straight line
- Ingleton24 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 5 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 5 |
| Night °C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 116 | 93 | 85 | 69 | 82 | 103 | 117 | 131 | 96 | 122 | 121 | 124 |
| Wet days | 19 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 20 |
| Sun h/day | 0.9 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 0.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 10 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (244 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 94% | 242% | 97% | 28% | 36% | 127% | 123% | 118% | 79% | 126% | 106% | 134% |
| 2021 | 139% | 158% | 121% | 25% | 164% | 31% | 73% | 64% | 72% | 161% | 61% | 103% |
| 2022 | 49% | 181% | 64% | 78% | 103% | 71% | 67% | 48% | 100% | 115% | 111% | 80% |
| 2023 | 100% | 46% | 165% | 116% | 57% | 63% | 167% | 84% | 153% | 89% | 124% | 163% |
| 2024 | 146% | 125% | 136% | 195% | 141% | 76% | 84% | 92% | 85% | 87% | 50% | 108% |
| 2025 | 74% | 67% | 45% | 33% | 67% | 110% | 93% | 46% | 192% | 84% | 147% | 123% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Cotter Force
United Kingdom
- —Height
- 1.8 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr, Aug–OctBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q37277) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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