![UK motorways map 2022](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/UK_motorways_map_2022.svg)
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 i ...
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. Nort ...
, 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 to
M62 stretch of the
A1 is under consideration for upgrade to motorway standard, meaning the A1 between
Blyth, 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 in ...
, to
Birtley near
Gateshead, would all be part of the same
A1(M)
A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...
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
The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames estuary, off Foulness Island, near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, though they actually lie within the neighbouring borough of Rochford. They form a part of the Essex Estuarie ...
Airport (also not built);
** From the
M25 (in the vicinity of the
M11) to
Chelmsford
Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, 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 ...
.
*
M13, from East London to
Maplin Sands
The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames estuary, off Foulness Island, near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, though they actually lie within the neighbouring borough of Rochford. They form a part of the Essex Estuarie ...
airport passing ''south'' of
Southend
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
.
* M17
Castle Donington
Castle Donington is a market town and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the edge of the National Forest and close to East Midlands Airport.
History
The name 'Donington' means 'farm/settlement connected with Dunna'. Another sugge ...
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)
The A329(M) is a motorway in Berkshire, England. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) long and runs from the west of Bracknell to the north west of Winnersh. It is one of a small number of parts of the motorway system in England that are managed by ...
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.
* 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 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 g ...
. 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 Salford to the west. The t ...
from the
M62 (now the
M60) in the
Irwell Valley
The Irwell Valley in North West England extends from the Forest of Rossendale through the cities of Salford and Manchester. The River Irwell runs through the valley, along with the River Croal.
Geology
Shallow seas covered most of south-east ...
at
Clifton near
Pendlebury.
* M650, Airedale Motorway from near
Silsden
Silsden is a town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and Leeds and Liverpool Canal between Keighley and Skipton, which had a population of 8,268 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the haml ...
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 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 population in 2019 was estimat ...
. Completed in 2017 as an all-purpose dual carriageway bypass of the A556.
*
Chippenham Spur, off the
M4
* Strensham –
Solihull
Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...
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
Hattersley is an area of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England; it is located west of Glossop and east of Manchester city centre, at the eastern terminus of the M67. Historically part of Tintwistle Rural District in Cheshire until 1974, it i ...
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 moorla ...
national park and
Sheffield
Sheffield is a 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 historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
. 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
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...
,
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 vicep ...
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 Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
,
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 Salford to the west. The t ...
/
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 popul ...
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 status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011.
Newry ...
* M23, from the
M2 to
Derry
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 Kingdom ...
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
In Ireland, the highest category of road is a motorway (''mótarbhealach'', plural: ''mótarbhealaí''), indicated by the prefix M followed by a one- or two-digit number (the number of the national route of which each motorway forms a part). Th ...
*
List of controlled-access highway systems
Many countries have national networks of controlled-access highways, the names of which vary from one country to another e.g. freeway or motorway. The networks do not always include all such highways, or even all the major ones in the country.
Asi ...
*
Evolution of motorway construction in European nations
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Motorways In The United Kingdom
Motorways
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 i ...