Most recent glaciation

Ice sheet extent and erosion intensity in the UK at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (Holden 2012)

The last major glaciation was known as the Devensian period in the UK (also known as the Wisconsinian in the US, the Würm in the Alps and the Weichselian in north/central Europe) (Benn and Evans 2010). During this time most of Britain was covered by an ice sheet up to several hundreds of metres in thickness (Bowen et al. 2002).

This glaciation peaked at around 18, 000 years ago (the Last Glacial Maximum, or LGM) and ended about 12,000 years ago, when most of the ice melted.