River Uck

{{Short description|River in East Sussex, England}}{{Use British English|date=September 2019}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}

{{Coord|50.941|0.0535|display=title|region:GB_scale:10000}}

{{Infobox river

| name = River Uck

| image = File:River Uck - geograph.org.uk - 383553.jpg

| image_caption = A portion of River Uck straightened for industrial purposes

}}

The River Uck is a river in East Sussex, United Kingdom, which drains a catchment starting near Crowborough in the North, Hadlow Down to the East and Laughton, East Sussex to the South.{{cite web|publisher=Wealden District Council |url=http://www.wealden.gov.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.aspx?lID=4567&sID=1978 |title=SFRA North – Watercourses and Catchment Areas |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927072435/http://www.wealden.gov.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.aspx?lID=4567&sID=1978 |archivedate=September 27, 2011 }} It flows through the town of Uckfield and into the River Ouse about {{convert|5|mi}} north of Lewes. The River Uck has a scenic walk alongside it. The river burst its banks in 2000, flooding much of Uckfield and the surrounding countryside.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/967952.stm|publisher=BBC News|title=South hit by severe floods | date=2000-10-12}}{{cite web|url=http://www.geography.org.uk/resources/flooding/uckfield/impact|title=Uckfield Case Study: What was the impact of the October 2000 flood?|publisher=Geographical Association}}

The signs indicating the name of the river have been subject to frequent vandalism, resulting in the council fitting specially shaped signs which reduce the ability of vandals to add the letter 'f' to the word 'Uck'.{{cite news|publisher=CBS News|last=Bicknell|first=Bob|title=We'll miss you, Little Dicker|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/well-miss-you-little-dicker/|date=October 25, 2004}}{{cite web|last=Wadsworth|first=Mark|title=River Uck (new sign, 2011)|url=http://markwadsworth.blogspot.ca/2011/09/river-uck.html|work=YPP Mark Wadsworth (blog)|publisher=Blogspot|accessdate=24 February 2013}}

In the Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman novel Good Omens the Uck provides a small but important scene in the narrative.{{cite book|author1=Neil Gaiman|author2=Terry Pratchett|title=Good Omens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7FL6zzN_FsC&pg=PA196|date=22 November 2011|publisher=Transworld|isbn=978-1-4481-1023-0|page=196}}