List of motorways in the United Kingdom

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UK motorways in 2022
  M-designated motorway
  Upgraded A-road designation

This list of motorways in the United Kingdom is a complete list of motorways in the United Kingdom. Note that the numbering scheme used for Great Britain does not include roads in Northern Ireland, which are allocated numbers on an ad hoc basis.[1]

Great Britain[edit]

M-designated motorways[edit]

Link Route Ceremonial counties (England)
Council areas (Scotland)
Principal areas (Wales) 		Highest junction to junction average daily vehicle flow 2019[2] Length
mi km
M1 A south-north motorway linking London to Leeds. Greater London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire 168,763 193.5 311.4
M2 A west-east motorway bypassing Medway, Sittingbourne and Faversham. Kent 106,582 25.7 41.4
M3 A northeast-southwest motorway linking London to Southampton. Surrey, Hampshire 136,059 58.6 94.3
M4 An east-west motorway linking London to Cardiff and South Wales. Greater London, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, Newport, Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, Swansea, Carmarthenshire 161,807 189 304
M5 A northeast-southwest motorway in South West England, linking Birmingham to Exeter. West Midlands, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Somerset, Devon 127,584 162.9 262.2
M6 A southeast-northwest motorway linking the West Midlands to North West England and Scotland. Continues as A74(M). Leicestershire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Staffordshire, Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria 173,201 232.2 373.7
M6 Toll A tolled bypass of the M6 in the West Midlands. West Midlands, Staffordshire, Warwickshire 110,489 27 43
M8 An east-west motorway linking Edinburgh to Glasgow. Edinburgh, West Lothian, North Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Renfrewshire 160,484 60.3 97.0
M9 A southeast-northwest motorway linking Edinburgh to Stirling. Edinburgh, West Lothian, Falkirk, Stirling 68,143 33.0 53.1
M11 A south-north motorway linking London to Cambridge. Greater London, Essex, Cambridgeshire 121,964 55.0 88.5
M18 A southwest-northeast motorway linking the M1 to the M62. South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire 108,855 26.5 42.6
M20 A west-east motorway linking London to Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel. Kent 120,348 50.6 81.4
M23 A north-south motorway linking London to Gatwick Airport and Crawley. Surrey, West Sussex 110,574 15.9 25.6
M25 A ring road of London numbered clockwise from Dartford. Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Greater London, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Essex 216,108 117 188
M26 An east-west motorway linking the M25 to the M20. Kent 70,674 9.9 15.9
M27 A west-east motorway linking Southampton to Portsmouth. Hampshire 134,210 25.0 40.2
M32 A spur from the M4 into central Bristol. Gloucestershire, Bristol 84,898 4.4 7.1
M40 A southeast-northwest motorway linking London to Birmingham. Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire 133,490 89.0 143.2
M42 A motorway bypassing Birmingham to the south and east, continuing to the M1 at Kegworth as the A42. Worcestershire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Leicestershire 154,532 40.0 64.4
M45 A spur from the M1 south of Rugby. Warwickshire, Northamptonshire 19,536 7.9 12.7
M48 An alternative route to the M4 between Bristol and Caldicot. Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire 22,632 12 19
M49 A western bypass of Bristol. Bristol, Gloucestershire 22,461 5.0 8.0
M50 A west-east motorway between the M5 and Ross-on-Wye. Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire 32,032 21.6 34.8
M53 A north-south motorway linking Birkenhead (and Liverpool via Kingsway Tunnel) to Chester. Merseyside, Cheshire 79,872 18.9 30.4
M54 An east-west motorway linking Wolverhampton to Telford. Staffordshire, Shropshire 70,652 23.0 37.0
M55 An east-west motorway linking Preston to Blackpool. Lancashire 84,905 12.2 19.6
M56 A west-east motorway linking Manchester to Liverpool and Chester. Greater Manchester, Cheshire 174,693 33.3 53.6
M57 An eastern bypass of Liverpool linking the M62 to Maghull. Merseyside 99,521 10 16
M58 A west-east motorway linking Liverpool to Wigan. Merseyside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester 49,376 12 19
M60 A ring road of Manchester numbered clockwise from Stockport. Greater Manchester 180,501 36 58
M61 A north-south motorway linking Preston to Manchester. Greater Manchester, Lancashire 150,331 20.0 32.2
M62 A west-east motorway linking Liverpool to Hull. Merseyside, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire 161,700 107 172
M65 A west-east motorway linking Preston to Burnley and Colne. Lancashire 82,970 25.8 41.5
M66 A north-south motorway linking Ramsbottom to Manchester. Lancashire, Greater Manchester 111,851 8.0 12.9
M67 A west-east motorway linking Manchester to Hadfield. Greater Manchester 58,435 5.0 8.0
M69 A northeast-southwest motorway linking Leicester to Coventry. Warwickshire, Leicestershire 64,828 15.7 25.3
M73 An eastern bypass of Glasgow. North Lanarkshire, Glasgow, South Lanarkshire 95,331 7.0 11.3
M74 A northwest-southeast motorway linking Glasgow to North West England. Continues as the A74(M) south of Abington. Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire 107,475 40 60
M77 A north-south motorway linking Glasgow to Kilmarnock. Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire 94,151 20.0 32.2
M80 A southwest-northeast motorway linking Glasgow to Stirling. Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Falkirk, Stirling 104,305 25.0 40.2
M90 A south-north motorway linking Edinburgh to Perth. Edinburgh, Fife, Perth and Kinross 76,503 36.0 57.9
M180 A west-east motorway linking Thorne to Grimsby. Continues as the A180 after the exit for the Humber Bridge. South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire 48,780 25.0 40.2
M181 A spur of the M180 leading to Scunthorpe. Lincolnshire 18,213 2.0 3.2
M271 A spur of the M27 bypassing Southampton to the west. Hampshire 53,678 2.3 3.7
M275 A spur from the M27 to central Portsmouth and Cosham. 86,291 2.0 3.2
M602 A west-east motorway linking the M62 to Salford. Greater Manchester 73,292 4.0 6.4
M606 A spur from the M62 to Bradford. West Yorkshire 77,277 3.0 4.8
M621 An east-west motorway linking Leeds to the M1 and M62. 103,207 7.7 12.4
M876 A southwest-northeast motorway linking Bonnybridge to Kincardine. Falkirk 42,611 8.0 12.9
M898 A spur from the M8 leading to Erskine Bridge. Renfrewshire 51,831 0.5 0.8

Upgraded A-road designations[edit]

Link Route Ceremonial counties (England)
Council areas (Scotland)
Principal areas (Wales) 		Highest junction to junction average daily vehicle flow 2019[2]
A1(M) A south-north motorway split into four sections: Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, County Durham, Tyne and Wear 143,012
A3(M) A north-south motorway linking the A3 to the A27 near Portsmouth. Hampshire 92,989
A8(M) A spur from the M8 and M73 to Ballieston. Glasgow 10,586
A38(M) A spur from the M6 to central Birmingham. West Midlands 146,908
A48(M) A spur from the M4 to central Cardiff. Newport, Cardiff 47,203
A57(M) Forms part of a ring road of Manchester. Also known as the Mancunian Way. Greater Manchester 90,785
A58(M) Forms the western part of the Leeds inner ring road. West Yorkshire 81,647
A64(M) Forms the eastern part of the Leeds inner ring road. 43,617
A66(M) A spur from the A1(M) to the A66 south of Darlington. North Yorkshire 15,337
A74(M) A northwest-southeast motorway linking the M74 to North West England. Continues as the M6. South Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Cumbria 41,662
A167(M) An urban motorway in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Tyne and Wear 63,911
A194(M) A south-north motorway linking the A1(M) to the Tyne Tunnel. 42,802
A308(M) A spur from the M4 south of Maidenhead. Berkshire 23,541
A329(M) A southeast-northwest motorway linking Bracknell to Reading. 69,520
A404(M) A spur from the M4 to High Wycombe. Continues as the A404 west of Maidenhead. 59,816
A627(M) A south-north motorway linking Rochdale to Oldham. Greater Manchester 55,749
A823(M) A spur from the M90 to Dunfermline. Fife 20,363
A1077(M) A spur from the M181 to Scunthorpe. Lincolnshire 18,213

Northern Ireland[edit]

M-designated motorways[edit]

Link Route Council areas
M1 Linking Belfast to Dungannon. Belfast, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Mid Ulster
M2 In two sections, one linking Belfast to Antrim, and the other bypassing Ballymena. The section in between was planned, but never built. Belfast, Antrim and Newtownabbey, Mid and East Antrim
M3 Linking the M2 in north Belfast to the A2 Sydenham Bypass in east Belfast. Belfast
M5 Linking the M2 in north Belfast to Newtownabbey. Belfast, Antrim and Newtownabbey
M12 A spur from the M1 near Derrymacash to the north of Portadown. Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
M22 Linking the M2 at Antrim to Randalstown. Antrim and Newtownabbey

Upgraded A-road designations[edit]

Link Route Council areas
A8(M) A spur from the M2 near Glengormley to the A8 north-west of Newtownabbey. Antrim and Newtownabbey

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "Northern Ireland Assembly – WRITTEN ANSWERS Friday 15 December 2000". Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
  2. ^ a b "GB Road Traffic Counts". Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
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