They are 6 metres above sea level.
And they are thus higher than the entire state of Tuvalu.
Tuvalu is a Pacific nation composed of three reef islands and six atolls. The highest point is on the island of Niulakita (population 36) and is 4.6m above sea level. The country is thus acutely affected by the threat of cilmate change, and just last week at the Cop30 summit rebuked Donald Trump for withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. Hackney Marshes are also floodable although not in such an existential manner.
These are Kew Gardens.
They are 8 metres above sea level.
And they are thus higher than all 26 atolls in the Maldives.
The Maldives are in even greater peril than Tuvalu, sea level wise, because the highest natural point in the islands has an elevation of just 2.4m. There is however one spot on a golf course on Villingili that artificially reaches 5.1m, so technically the Maldives have 50cm leeway over Tuvalu. Kew Gardens is comfortably higher, although should sea level rise ever reach 10m that wouldn't be comfortable at all.
There are a lot of places in London that aren't higher than the Maldives. I wrote a post in 2019 listing all the places I could find on an Ordnance Survey map with a spot height less than 5m. They included Wennington Marshes (1m), 10 Downing Street (2m), Thamesmead (3m) and Parsons Green (4m). We have no reason to be smug about the long-term future of our capital. However we are still higher above sea level than at least 20 sovereign nations, so let's explore...
Hyde Park Corner is 13m above sea level. It is thus higher than the Marshall Islands which only reach 10m. (Buckingham Palace is not higher than the Marshall Islands because it lies below the 10m contour, which crosses the top of the back garden)
West Hampstead is 47m above sea level, as are Uxbridge, Blackheath and Ruislip Lido. They are thus higher than the Cayman Islands which only reach 43m. Most of the country is much flatter but on the easternmost island is a plateau of karstic limestone called The Bluff, and that's where the 43m peak occurs.
King Henry's Mound in Richmond Park is 56m above sea level. It is thus higher than The Gambia which only reaches 51m. This is the first non-island nation on the list, and it's so low because the country essentially hugs the lower reaches of the Gambia River which drains much of the surrounding country of Senegal.
Primrose Hill is 64m above sea level. It is thus higher than The Bahamas which only reach 63m.
Stanmore is 81m above sea level. That's the centre of Stanmore by the shops, not the more elevated heights on the common which easily top 140m. Of a similar height are the centre of Northwood, the centre of Harefield and the centre of Coulsdon. They are all thus higher than Vatican City which only reaches 75m. The Pope's abode is the first land-locked country on our list.
Alexandra Palace is 89m above sea level. It is thus higher than Bermuda which only reaches 79m.
Crystal Palace is 109m above sea level. It is thus higher than Qatar which only reaches 103m. I should say this is the top end of the park where the transmitter stands, and should also confirm that in all today's measurements I'm only considering ground level. If we also counted the transmitter then the top of the mast reaches 330m which is higher than Estonia... although maybe not higher than the tallest building in Estonia, and that's why ground level is the only unambiguous thing to compare.
New Addington is 141m above sea level. It is thus higher than Bahrain which only reaches 135m. And that's only counting the highest spot height on an OS map which is halfway up Queen Elizabeth Drive. Looking at contours I'd say Meridian High School is more like 165m above sea level, thus enough to beat the next two countries, but I'm trying to be precise here.
Charles Darwin's house at Downe and the airfield at RAF Kenley are 169m above sea level. They are thus both higher than Monaco which reaches 162m and also Singapore which reaches 164m.
Biggin Hill airport is 182m above sea level. It is thus higher than Denmark which only reaches 171m. Other locations to beat the whole of Denmark include Box Hill(172m) and Sanderstead Plantation(175m).
The highest point in London is Westerham Heights on the North Downs near Hawley's Corner. It is thus higher than the Micronesian archipelago of Palau whose highest point is Mount Ngerchelchuus (242m).
Other nations to be lower than London are Anguilla, Aruba, Kiribati, Macau, Nauru, Niue and Saint Pierre and Miquelon. That's approximately 20 less-elevated countries altogether.
To beat the next few we need to go beyond Greater London.
» Haddington Hill in the Chilterns (267m) is higher than Malta(253m).
» Leith Hill in Surrey (295m) is higher than Kuwait (291m) and Lithuania(294m).
» Cleeve Hill in the Cotswolds (330m) is higher than Latvia(312m) and Estonia(318m).
» Hergest Ridge in the Welsh Borders (427m) is higher than Gibraltar(426m).
» Dunkery Beacon in Somerset (519m) is higher than Uruguay(514m).
» Kinder Scout in the Peak District (636m) is higher than Luxembourg(560m).
» Great Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales (704m) is higher than Belgium(694m).
» Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons (886m) is higher than the Netherlands(870m).
» Scafell Pike in the Lake District (978m) is higher than Hong Kong(957m).
» Carnedd Dafydd in Snowdonia (1044m) is higher than Ireland(1039m).
» Snowdon(1085m) is higher than Bangladesh(1063m).
» Ben Nevis(1345m) is higher than Finland(1324m).
And at least 140 countries are higher than the United Kingdom, but let's not go there.
