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This list of motorways in the United Kingdom is a complete list of
motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
s in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Note that the numbering scheme used for Great Britain does not include roads in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
, which are allocated numbers on an ad hoc basis.


Great Britain


M-designated motorways


Upgraded A-road designations


Former motorways

Roads which used to be motorways but have been downgraded:


Motorways that have been renumbered


Motorways under construction or planned

The
Adwick-le-Street Adwick le Street is a village in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The Adwick ward of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council had a population of 15,911 at the 2011 Census. It is situated north-west of Doncaster. Under the 2011 ce ...
to M62 stretch of the A1 is under consideration for upgrade to motorway standard, meaning the A1 between
Blyth Blyth may refer to: People * Blyth (surname) * Blythe (given name) Places Australia * Blyth, South Australia, a small town Canada * Blyth, Ontario, a village United Kingdom * Blyth, Northumberland, a town ** Blyth Valley (UK Parliament ...
, south of
Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...
, to Birtley near Gateshead, would all be part of the same A1(M) stretch of motorway. In addition, the proposal to put a tunnel under the River Thames to the east of Dartford Crossing and the revived Birmingham Western Orbital plans are both described as motorways.


Unbuilt motorways

There have been many plans for motorways in the UK that have not been built. Below is a list of plans that were not built (not exhaustive): * M1 Sterling Corner Link, linking Sterling Corner to the M1. * M12 in 3 forms (although a small part was built and is not used - a stub sliproad): ** From the London end of the M11 to Brentwood; ** From the London end of the M11 to Maplin Sands Airport (also not built); ** From the M25 (in the vicinity of the M11) to
Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Lond ...
. * M13, from East London to Maplin Sands airport passing ''south'' of Southend. * M17 Castle Donington bypass, a short spur off the M1; * M19, M1 to A1 in Yorkshire. Functionally equivalent to the M62 between junction 29 and 32A, but located further to the north, and without the eastern extension to Hull. * M31, a bypass of the busiest section of the M25, cutting the corner for traffic from the west. Partially built as the A329(M) and A3290. * M58 Mid-Lancashire Motorway, from west of Wigan to west of Bolton and the M61; cancelled in 1969. In the mid-1970s the M58 was reinstated, but as a two-lane dual carriageway and was cancelled again in 1986. In 1989, it was re-instated a second time, but was rerouted to end at the A58 instead of the M61 in 1993 and cancelled yet again in 1996. Wigan MBC picked up the M58 in the late 1990s, but only the western end was dual carriageway and the rest was downgraded to single carriageway. In 2007 the M58 was cancelled for good. * M59, M58 junction 2 to south of
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
. * M60, a bypass of Altrincham and Sale, running from the M56 to Manchester. One section built as the A6144(M), and the section between M6 and M56 was built as an all-purpose dual carriageway bypass of the A556. * M64, between the M6 south of
Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surroun ...
and the M1 near
Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...
. The central section was built as an upgrade of the A50. * M601, which would have entered
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
from the M62 (now the M60) in the Irwell Valley at Clifton near Pendlebury. * M650, Airedale Motorway from near Silsden to Shipley. * A6(M) (or M66 extension), which would have formed an eastern bypass for Stockport. As of March 2006, this is still under the planning stage as part of the SEMMMS (south east Manchester multi modal study) project (though not as motorway). * A556(M), which would have cut the corner between the M6 and M56 near
Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The populati ...
. Completed in 2017 as an all-purpose dual carriageway bypass of the A556. * Chippenham Spur, off the M4 * Strensham – Solihull motorway, a link between the M50 and M42. In the earliest stages of planning, a route that would have linked it with the M69 was considered. * Most of the M67 – from Hattersley to the M1 via the Hope Valley in the
Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorl ...
national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...
and
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
. Various routes have been proposed but have yet to come to fruition due to controversy and/or expense. In 2014, the then Sheffield Hallam MP and Deputy Prime Minister,
Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepre ...
signalled his support for improvements to the Woodhead Pass. *Western Orbital Motorway - M6 north of M54/M6 junction to M5 near Bromsgrove. Planned to relieve congestion in the West Midlands, this would have diverted traffic heading north west to south west away from the heavily congested M6 south of Walsall. A spur was planned to link to the A449 north of Wombourne. This proposal has been around since construction of the M42 started. The idea hasn't been completely abandoned but is more likely to be built as an all-purpose road rather than a motorway. Many cities had urban motorway plans, most of which were not built.
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, Newcastle,
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
/ SELNEC and
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...
all had extensive plans. It was proposed that the A14 upgrade between Huntingdon and Cambridge would be classified as a motorway once complete, however prior to opening it was announced that the road would open as a "best in class A road" instead.


Northern Ireland


M-designated motorways


Upgraded A-road designations


Unbuilt motorways

The following motorways were planned, but never built. * M11, from the M1 going through Lisburn and then crossing the M1 again and ending at
Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...
* M23, from the M2 to
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. Th ...
There were also urban motorway plans for
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...


See also

*
List of numbered roads in the British Isles This is a list of numbered roads in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Euroroutes ''European routes are not listed or commonly used in the United Kingdom. They are listed and commonly used in the Republic of Ireland.'' Motorways Great Britai ...
* Motorways in the Republic of Ireland * List of controlled-access highway systems *
Evolution of motorway construction in European nations The evolution of motorways construction in European countries by total number of kilometers existing in that year. This is a list of the total number of Motorways by country in Europe. It includes motorways (controlled-access highways), classifie ...


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Motorways In The United Kingdom Motorways