The following links will take you to sites that contain freely available shape and KML files for downloading - please ensure you read the respective terms and conditions for each of the websites.
Maritime Coastguard Agency
The Civil Hydrography Programme is coordinated by the Maritime Coastguard Agency to ensure accurate hydrographic information is gathered for updating UK nautical charts and publications:
- A shape file that identifies sites that have been surveyed or are planned to be surveyed
- KML files of the bathymetry currently available for download
The Crown Estate
The Crown Estate has shape files that can be downloaded via a simple registration for:
Further information on the location of the proposed windfarms in Scottish Territorial Waters can be found at The Crown Estate and Scottish Natural Heritage Sites (see below).
British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey has maps of onshore bedrock geology and superficial deposits at 1:625 000 scale in shape and KML file formats available for download.
OneGeology
The OneGeology portal creates a dynamic digital geological map of the world using GeoSciML. Geological data can be also be viewed and exported as KML files.
Watch a demonstration of what OneGeology can do
Department of Energy and Climate Change Atlas of UK Marine Renewable Energy Resources
The Atlas represents a regional description of potential marine energy resources in UK waters at a national scale, and will be used to help guide policy and planning decisions for future site leasing rounds. Wave, tide and wind resource information is available as shape and text files.
Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Natural Heritage provides shape and KML files of conservation interest (e.g. SSSI, SPA, SAC, NNR etc) for download via registration.
Joint Nature Conservation Committee
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee holds the officially submitted version of the boundaries of areas designated for conservation interest including SACs, SPAs, offshore SACs and Ramsar sites.
The distribution of seabirds at sea, seabird colonies, sea ducks and cetaceans can also be downloaded as text files.
Mapping European Seabed Habitats (MESH)
MESH aims to collate and standardise habitat maps for the seas around north-west Europe and provide access to those maps to support the management of the marine environment. Predicted habitat maps using the EUNIS classification system are available as shape files.
National Biodiversity Network Gateway
The National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Gateway brings together a large number of national datasets on species distribution both terrestrial and marine. Georeferenced data can be downloaded as text files.