List of motorways in the United Kingdom
List of motorways in the United Kingdom is a complete list of
motorways in the
United Kingdom. Note that
one numbering scheme is used for Great Britain and a separate numbering scheme for
Northern Ireland, see
Roads in Ireland.
Single-digit motorways
*
M1, the eastern north-south motorway linking
London and
Leeds and continuing north to the A1. The first whole motorway.
*
M2, in
Kent from
Rochester to
Faversham. Bypasses the
Medway Towns.
*
M3, linking
Southampton and
London.
*
M4, linking
London and south
Wales.
*
M5, linking
Exeter and the south-west of
England with
Birmingham and the
Midlands.
*
M6, the western north-south motorway linking the
M1 at
Rugby with
Carlisle. The section around
Preston was the first stretch of motorway built.
*
M6 Toll, a toll motorway to the north of
Walsall and
Sutton Coldfield, bypassing a busy stretch of the M6 around the
Birmingham and
Wolverhampton areas.
*
M8, linking
Edinburgh and
Greenock, via
Glasgow.
*
M9, linking
Edinburgh and
Stirling.
Two-digit motorways
England and Wales
*
M10, a short spur from the
M1 to
St Albans.
*
M11, linking
London and
Cambridge.
*
M18, linking the
M1 at
Rotherham and the
M62 at
Goole.
*
M20, linking London (
Swanley) and
Folkestone.
*
M23, linking London (
Coulsdon) to beyond
Crawley.
*
M25, the
London orbital motorway.
*
M26, a short link between the M25 at
Sevenoaks and the
M20 before
Maidstone.
*
M27, the south coast route running from Cadnam, west of
Southampton, to
Portsmouth.
*
M32, a spur from the
M4 to central
Bristol.
*
M40, linking
London with
Birmingham at the M42
Birmingham orbital motorway .
*
M42, The southern and eastern part of the
Birmingham orbital motorway extending north towards
Ashby-de-la-Zouch and west to the M5.
*
M45, a short spur from the
M1 north of
Daventry towards
Coventry.
*
M48, the
Severn Bridge, linking
Thornbury and
Newport, Monmouthshire over the
River Severn. This used to be the
M4 before the
Second Severn Crossing was built.
*
M49, a short link from the
M5 to the
M4 west of
Bristol.
*
M50, linking the
M5 at
Tewkesbury to
Ross-on-Wye.
*
M53, linking
Chester and
Birkenhead.
*
M54, linking the
M6 north of
Wolverhampton and
Telford.
*
M55, linking
Blackpool and the
M6 at
Preston.
*
M56, linking
Manchester and
Chester.
*
M57, a
Liverpool bypass running north-west from the M62.
*
M58, linking
Wigan and northern
Liverpool.
*
M60, the
Manchester Outer Ring Road, an orbital motorway.
*
M61, linking
Preston and
Manchester.
*
M62, linking
Liverpool and the approaches to
Kingston-upon-Hull, the trans-
Pennine link.
*
M65, linking
Preston and
Colne, Lancashire.
*
M66, linking
Rawtenstall and the
M62 at
Manchester.
*
M67, linking the
M60 at
Denton to
Hyde in Greater Manchester.
*
M69, linking
Leicester and
Coventry.
*
M96, not open to the public, but part of the
Fire Service College at
Moreton-in-Marsh. Sometimes erroneously referred to as the M91
Scotland
*
M73, linking
Cumbernauld to the
M74*
M74, linking
Glasgow and Abington in
South Lanarkshire, where the
A74(M) takes over
*
M77, linking
Glasgow and
Fenwick (near
Kilmarnock*
M80, linking
Glasgow and
Stirling*
M90, linking the
Forth Road Bridge and
PerthThree or more digit motorways and spurs
England
*
M180, from the
M18 at Thorne towards
Grimsby and the A15 to the
Humber Bridge.
*
M181, the
Scunthorpe spur from the
M180.
*
M271, the
Totton,
Southampton spur from the
M27*
M275, the
Portsmouth spur from the
M27*
M602,
M62 spur into
Manchester.
*
M606,
M62 spur at
Bradford.
*
M621,
M62 spur at
Leeds.
Scotland
*
M876, a short link between motorways in the
Falkirk area.
*
M898, the
Erskine Bridge approach road.
Upgraded A-road designations
England and Wales
*
A1(M), the parts of the
A1 road between
London and
Newcastle-upon-Tyne that have been upgraded to motorway.
*
A3(M), a short stretch of the
A3 road by-passing
Waterlooville and
Havant, that has been built to motorway standards.
*
A38(M), a spur from the
M6 to central
Birmingham, also known as the Aston Expressway. It has no
central reservation — the number of lanes open in each direction varies according to prevailing traffic conditions.
*
A48(M), a spur from the
M4 J29 of about a mile, heading into
Cardiff.
*
A57(M), known as the Mancunian Way, forms the southern part of
Manchester's inner ring road. It is elevated and runs through the centre of the campus of
UMIST, now part of the
University of Manchester.
*
A58(M) is the western part of the
Leeds inner ring road.
*
A64(M) is the eastern part of the
Leeds inner ring road.
*
A66(M) is a short motorway stretch of the
A66 road from the
A1(M) to
Darlington*
A167(M) an urban motorway in central
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
*
A194(M) spur from the
Newcastle-upon-Tyne stretch of the
A1(M) running towards the
Tyne Tunnel.
*
A308(M), linking M4 junction 8/9 with
Maidenhead.
*
A329(M), linking
Bracknell and
Winnersh near
Reading.
*
A404(M), linking M4 junction 8/9 towards
Henley-on-Thames.
*
A601(M) Spur off the M6 at Carnforth, Lancashire, linking to the
A6 The southern part is single carriageway. Technically, it is not an upgraded A road, but a downgraded motorway.
*
A627(M), connects
Rochdale and
Oldham to the
M62Scotland
*
A74(M), linking Abington in
South Lanarkshire at the end of the
M74 with
Gretna*
A823(M) is a short spur from the
M90 to
DunfermlineFormer motorways
England
Roads which used to be motorways but have been downgraded.
* M15 Junction 4 of the M11 to the Redbridge Roundabout. Downgraded to A406 when the extension to Beckton was built. The whole of the A406 and A205 were originally to be rebuilt as the M15 ringway 2. M15 was never publicly advertised.
* M41 was a spur from the London
Westway, now A3220.
[Under its charter, motorways are excluded from the remit of Transport for London. These routes had their motorway status removed to allow TfL control over them.]* A18(M) Spur from
M18. Mostly now part of
M180, although a section has been abandoned.
* A40(M) London Westway, now the
A40.
* A41(M)
Tring bypass, now the
A41.
* A46(M) Spur towards
Leicester from
M1 at junction 21, now part of the A563.
* A102(M) London East Cross Route, between
Hackney, the
Blackwall Tunnel, and as far as the
Sun-in-the-Sands roundabout.
* The northern third of the A329(M) from
Winnersh to
Reading, now the A3290. Downgraded to permit Reading council to dedicate one lane for buses.
*
A6144(M), formerly the longest single-carriageway motorway spur in the United Kingdom from the
M60 north of
Sale towards
Carrington. Now just a branch of the
A6144.
Motorways that have been renamed
England
*The M16 was originally to be the northern section of the M25 but was renumbered prior to opening.
*The
M63 was merged with parts of the
M62 and
M66 to form the new M60 Manchester orbital motorway
* The M85 is now
M90 J10-11. Previously the M90 carried on along the spur into Perth, leaving the main route ahead as the M85.
* The M531 is now the southern section of the
M53 .
* The A20(M) is now the
M20 from J5-8.
* The A423(M), originally A4(M) and then part of the M4, is now the A404(M). [
1]
* The A6127(M) is now the A167(M).
Motorways that are not trunk roads
England
*
M62 from its western terminus to J6 is not a trunk road and is under the jurisdiction of Liverpool City Council.
*
M65 from J10 to J14 is not a trunk road and is under the jurisdiction of Lancashire County Council.
Unbuilt motorways
England
* M12 in 3 forms [
2]:
** 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.
* M13 from East London to Maplin Sands airport passing
south of Southend [
3]
* M59, M58 junction 2 to M55 junction 2
*
M64, between Stoke and Derby
* M272 or M273, which would have met the M27 at J6 and headed into
Southampton* M601, which would have entered
Manchester from the north (M62)
* M650 Airedale Motorway
* 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.
* A556(M) which would have cut the corner between the M6 and M56 near
Warrington. (This will not now be built.)
Single-digit motorways
*
M1 from Belfast to Dungannon.
*
M2 from Belfast to Antrim, and again near Ballymena.
*
M3 in Belfast from the M2 to the A2 Sydenham Bypass.
*
M5 from Belfast (M2) to Newtownabbey
Two-digit motorways
* M12, spur from M1 to
Portadown* M22, Antrim (M2) to Randalstown
Upgraded A-road designations
* A8(M) spur from M2 to A8 north of Belfast
*
The UK Roads Portal*
Motorway Database*
Pathetic Motorways*
Northern Ireland Roads Site
