Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic in genesis and derived from *lǭn meaning "full, abundant",[2] or "healthy, pure" (c.f.

[4] The river begins as a stream at Newbiggin,[5] in the parish of Ravenstonedale, Cumbria, at St. Helen's Well (elevation of 238 metres (781 ft) above sea level) and some neighbouring springs.

[6][7][8] Weasdale Beck is the uppermost headwater of River Lune recorded in Environment Agency's Catchment Data Explorer.

[9] It then passes the remnants of a Roman fort near Low Borrowbridge at the foot of Borrowdale, and flows through south Cumbria, meeting the Irish Sea at Plover Scar near Lancaster, after a total journey of about 53 miles (85 km).

Below this is the spectacular Lune Gorge through which both the M6 motorway and the West Coast Main Railway Line run.

[16] The Ingleton branch line, a railway operational between 1861 and 1967, followed the Lune between Tebay and Kirkby Lonsdale, crossing the river twice on viaducts which still stand.

Near the end of the non-tidal reach of the river stands the Lune Aqueduct, which carries the Lancaster Canal.

An engraving of a picture by J. Henderson entitled 'The Vale of Lonsdale' appears in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832 together with a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon.

HM Coastguard have operational primacy over incidents up to the high water mark, with their nearest team based in Morecambe.