The River Severn is the longest river in the United Kingdom. It flows through much of central England and then southern Wales. The river begins in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales and flows generally eastwards through Newtown and Shrewsbury, then south at Ironbridge Gorge, then into Gloucestershire, past Gloucester, and into the Severn Estuary which enters the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean between western Somerset and southern Gloucestershire. With more than 220 mi (354 km) of its course navigable by barges and small ships, it is the most important west coast river in Great Britain.