See main article: Lists of volcanoes.
There are no active volcanoes in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, although a few do exist in some British Overseas Territories, including Queen Mary's Peak in Tristan da Cunha, Soufrière Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, as well as Mount Belinda and Mount Michael in the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The last time that volcanoes were active in what is now the United Kingdom was the early Palaeogene period, just over 50 million years ago (Ma), associated with the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. Modern day hills and mountains within the UK which are sometimes described as extinct volcanoes are usually the deeply eroded roots of volcanoes active in prehistoric times.[1] Some locations popularly believed to be volcanoes, such as The Wrekin, actually have different origins, such as being sites where volcanic material was deposited.[2]
Below is a list of extinct volcanoes in the United Kingdom.
| Name | Elevation | Location | Last eruption | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| metres | feet | Coordinates | Traditional county | ||
| Bardon Hill[3] | 276 | 912 | 52.7145°N -1.3206°W | Leicestershire | 570 Ma |
| Barrow Hill[4] | - | - | 52.506°N -2.126°W | Staffordshire | 311 Ma |
| Calton Hill[5] | - | - | 53.2404°N -1.8232°W | Derbyshire | 330 Ma |
| Cawsand volcano[6] | - | - | 50.3311°N -4.2021°W | Cornwall | 280 Ma |
| The Cheviot[7] | 815 | 2674 | 55.4782°N -2.1455°W | Northumberland | 390 Ma |
| - | - | 50.1916°N -5.5992°W | Cornwall | 400 Ma | |
| Haweswater caldera[8] | - | - | 54.5189°N -2.8047°W | Westmorland | - |
| Helvellyn[9] | 950 | 3118 | 54.5272°N -3.0161°W | Westmorland | - |
| Langdale caldera | - | - | 54.45°N 3.07°W | Lancashire | Ordovician |
| Lundy (?)[10] | 143 | 369 | Devon | 50 Ma | |
| Scafells (including Scafell Pike) | 978 | 3209 | 54.4542°N -3.2115°W | Cumberland | 430 Ma |
| Speedwell vent[11] | - | - | 53.3414°N -1.7921°W | Derbyshire | Carboniferous |
| Warboys[12] | - | - | 52.4°N -0.07°W | Huntingdonshire | Hercynian orogeny |
| Name | Elevation | Location | Last eruption | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| metres | feet | Coordinates | ||
| - | - | 60 Ma | ||
| - | - | 55.25°N -6.4853°W | Palaeogene | |
| 378 | 1240 | 54.9105°N -5.9154°W | - | |
| 437 | 1434 | 54.8819°N -6.0969°W | Palaeogene | |
| 528 | 1732 | 54.73°N -6.76°W | - | |
| 573 | 1880 | 54.1333°N -32°W | Palaeocene | |
| 402 | 1319 | 55.0742°N -6.133°W | - | |
| Name | Elevation | Location | Last eruption | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| metres | feet | Coordinates | ||
| Anton Dohrn Seamount | - | - | 57.5°N 11°W | 40-70 Ma |
| - | - | 56.7333°N -5.9833°W | early Eocene: c.55 Ma | |
| Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh | 251 | 824 | 55.9442°N -3.1619°W | 298.9 Ma |
| Ben Nevis | 1345 | 4411 | 56°47′49″N 5°00′13″W | 298.9 Ma |
| Cuillin Hills (on Isle of Skye) | 992 | 3,255 | 57.2°N -6.2°W | 43 Ma |
| 500 | 56.4698°N -2.9894°W | 443.8 | ||
| Elie Ness[13] | - | - | 56.1899°N -2.8233°W | - |
| Erlend[14] | - | - | 61°N -0.3°W | 58 Ma |
| Eshaness stratovolcano[15] | - | - | 60.49°N -1.59°W | - |
| Glen Coe Caldera | - | - | 416.0 Ma | |
| - | - | 56.4667°N -27°W | 48 Ma | |
| 187 | 613 | 56.0514°N -2.7161°W | 298.9 Ma | |
| Peniel Heugh[16] | 237 | 778 | 55.5292°N -2.5508°W | - |
| Buchan-Glenn Fissure System (Rattray) | - | - | - | 165 Ma |
| Rockall | 17 | 56 | 57.5963°N -13.6873°W | - |
| Rùm volcano[17] | 812 | 2,664 | 56.994°N -6.344°W | - |
| Name | Elevation | Location | Last eruption | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| metres | feet | Coordinates | Traditional county | ||
| Deganwy Castle volcano[18] | 110 | 631 | 53.2975°N -3.829°W | - | |
| Mynydd y Dref[19] | 244 | 801 | 53.2831°N -3.8624°W | 450 Ma | |
| 734 | 2408 | 52.814°N -3.802°W | Merionethshire | - | |
| Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) | 1085 | 3560 | Caernarfonshire | - | |
| - | - | 51.8742°N -4.9694°W | Pembrokeshire | Ordovician | |