Glacial landscapes of Britain and Ireland

Knowledge of glaciation in Britain and Ireland has a long and rich history, and the earliest ideas surrounding the nature of the Quaternary ice ages were developed and established based on observations in these islands. The complex and varied geology has led to a diverse range of glacial landscapes. Britain and Ireland were extensively glaciated during the Pleistocene with ice reaching to the continental shelf far offshore of the modern coastline. All of Ireland was covered by ice, while only the southernmost parts of Britain have never been glaciated. Thus the modern landscapes we see today in most of Britain and Ireland, from the mountains to the lowlands, are the direct result of glaciation.