Many people know the UK has several woodland walks, lakes, rivers, beaches and waterfalls.

However, you might be surprised to learn that there are also rainforests. These habitats characterised by high rainfall and dense, diverse vegetation are thought to be in tropical places only, like the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil.

However, Amy Hulley, a UK travel content creator, explored Lydford Gorge in North Devon, the deepest river gorge in the South West which is filled with temperate rainforest, a globally rare habitat. The travel fan posted a video on TikTok showing her experience at Lydford Gorge.

In the nine-second clip with the on-screen text, ‘The UK has a rainforest…and it looks like this’, Amy is seen walking on a narrow walkway surrounded by a tree canopy. There is also a waterfall and a tree but the main feature is the thick, green vegetation.

The caption of her post reads: “This is one of the UK’s rare temperate rainforests. These magical places make up less than 1% of the UK’s land, but they’re filled with moss-covered trees, ferns, and incredible wildlife. Other examples can be found in areas like the west coast of Scotland and parts of Wales.

“I was so pleased I finally got to visit and see one with my own eyes. There’s something so special about walking through a place where nature thrives in such a lush, vibrant way.”

Woodland Trust, the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK, has given more of an insight into the temperate rainforest, also known as an Atlantic of Celtic rainforest. It highlights this “special” habitat as being “incredibly rare” and is “thought to be more threatened than tropical rainforest.”

The “lush conditions” of the temperate rainforest make it perfect for scare plants, lichens and fungi, as well as “remarkable” birds and mammals, according to Woodland Trust. It adds: “ Otherwise known as Atlantic woodland, temperate rainforest is found in areas subject to the influence of the sea (places with ‘high oceanicity’).

“These places have high rainfall and humidity and a low annual variation in temperature. This unique habitat of ancient oak, birch, ash, pine and hazel woodland is made even more diverse by open glades, boulders, crags, ravines and river gorges.”

Woodland Trust states that rainforests in the UK are part of the Coastal Temperate Rainforest biome. It explains that ideal conditions for temperate rainforest are found along the UK’s western seaboard, including the west coast of Scotland, north and west Wales, Devon, Cornwall, Cumbria and parts of Northern Ireland.

Other temperate rainforests in the UK besides Lydford Gorge are Ausewell Wood, Gleann Shildeag Estate, Bovey Valley Woods and Loch Arkaig Pine Forest. The charity notes that even within the UK, the location of this kind of woodland can influence the condition and species found at each rainforest site as, for example, the biodiversity of rainforest in south west England differs to those in north west Scotland.

So you may want to pick one of these spots for your next staycation if you fancy checking them out.