The 3 most dangerous natural places in the UK

When it comes to thinking of dangerous natural places, the UK doesn’t usually pop into someone’s head. We don’t have huge mountains that take days to climb or vast deserts to slowly kill anyone who tries to cross them, but that’s not to say the country doesn’t come without its dangers. You won’t run into any of the 3 most dangerous natural places in the UK unless you specifically visit them, but if you do your life could end in a single slip.

The Wash – Norfolk

Sitting in between the towns of Skegness and Kings Lynn lays an enormous bay that’s known simply as “the wash”. It’s nothing more than a huge estuary that covers an area of approximately 620.5 km² and consists of very flat beaches that can rapidly flood when the tide comes in. The reason it’s so dangerous is because of how fast the tide comes back in, which is amongst the fastest in all the UK, and combined with the mud on the beach and how wide it is, there’s a very real chance of getting cut off by the sea. King John is famously known as being one of the worst kings England ever had, and it was in this location where he apparently lost the English crown jewels during the 12th century after losing several wagons to the tide as it came in, the treasure has never been found to this day.

The Strid – Yorkshire

Running across England through the district of Yorkshire is the river Wharf, a normal and fairly boring-looking river until you get to an area of it called the Strid. This section of the river is regarded by many as being the most dangerous river section in the whole world and has a 100% fatality rate for anyone unlucky enough to fall into it. The river narrows at the Strid and becomes very rocky, greatly increasing its flow rate, but the underwater cave system is the cause of the powerful downward currents that instantly pull anything that falls to the bottom. The river looks narrow on top but is quite wide under the overhanging rocks, and because of its location and the rocks breaking up the flow, the water is also filled with silt and air, making it much less dense and impossible to stay afloat in. Every single person who has fallen into the area known as the Strid has died, as anyone who falls in can expect to be violently pulled into the underwater cave system while being smashed against sharp rocks by countless tons of rapidly flowing water that’s impossible to swim in. For a better explanation of just how deadly this river is, check out the episode of Amazing Places below.

Ben Nevis – Scotland

The highest mountain in the UK is called Ben Nevis and is located just to the east of Fort William in Scotland. It stands 1,345 m tall and the name roughly translates into English as “Venomous mountain” or “mountain with its head in the clouds”. The mountain isn’t much bigger than many others in the same range, but its popularity combined with the rapid weather changes makes it much more likely to be the site of a disaster. There are always deaths on the mountain each year but usually less than 10 people due to the speedy response of the local emergency services. One of the biggest problems on Ben Nevis seems to be the people’s misguided view of it being easy to climb, like a group of students from Glasgow who tried to climb it in nothing but trainers and basic clothing. After getting caught in a storm and separated, they were minutes away from passing out by the time they were rescued.