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.

Great Britain

Single-digit motorways

England and Wales

Sign	Link	Route
	M1	The eastern north-south motorway linking London (Hendon) to Leeds and continuing north to the A1 near Garforth. The first inter-urban motorway.
	M2	In Kent from Rochester to Faversham. Bypasses the Medway Towns.
	M3	Linking London (Sunbury) to Southampton.
	M4	Linking London (Hammersmith) to South Wales, just beyond Pontarddulais.
	M5	Linking the M6 at Great Barr in the West Midlands to Exeter.
	M6	The western north-south motorway linking the M1 near Rugby to Carlisle.
	M6 Toll	A toll motorway bypassing a busy stretch of the M6 around the Birmingham and Wolverhampton areas from near Coleshill to Cannock.

Scotland

Sign	Link	Route
	M8	Linking Edinburgh to the A8 at Langbank, via Glasgow. There is a gap in the motorway near Coatbridge, where the road is classified as the A8.
	M9	Linking the M8 just west of Edinburgh to Dunblane.

Two-digit motorways

England and Wales

Sign	Link	Route
	M10	A short spur linking St Albans to the M1 near Hemel Hempstead.
	M11	Linking London (Woodford) to Cambridge.
	M18	Linking the M1 at Rotherham to the M62 near Goole.
	M20	Linking the M25 at Swanley to Folkestone.
	M23	Linking Hooley in Surrey (just north of the M25, and south of Coulsdon) to Crawley.
	M25	The London orbital motorway, numbered clockwise from Dartford around London to Thurrock. (The Dartford Crossing between Thurrock and Dartford is not classified as a motorway, being the A282.)
	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 near Winterbourne to central Bristol.
	M40	Linking Uxbridge, west London, to the M42 south of Solihull.
	M42	Part of the Birmingham orbital motorway, from the M5 near Bromsgrove, running around the south and east of Birmingham and continuing north towards Measham. A section near Coleshill has been replaced by the M6 Toll.
	M45	A short spur linking the A45 south west of Rugby to the M1 south east of Rugby and north of Daventry.
	M48	The Severn Bridge, linking the M4 near Thornbury to the M4 near Caldicot 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 north of Tewkesbury to Ross-on-Wye.
	M53	Linking Wallasey to Chester.
	M54	Linking the M6 north of Wolverhampton to Wellington near Telford.
	M55	Linking the M6 north of Preston to Blackpool.
	M56	Linking Manchester (Gatley) to Chester.
	M57	The Liverpool bypass running north-west from the M62 near Huyton to Switch Island between Maghull and Aintree.
	M58	Linking Switch Island (between Maghull and Aintree, northern Liverpool) to Wigan.
	M60	The Manchester Outer Ring Road, an orbital motorway, numbered anti-clockwise from Stockport.
	M61	Linking Bamber Bridge near Preston to Manchester (Worsley).
	M62	Linking Liverpool to the A63 west of Kingston upon Hull, the trans-Pennine link. There is a gap in the motorway to the north of Manchester where the road has been reclassified to become part of the M60.
	M65	Linking Bamber Bridge near Preston to Colne.
	M66	Linking Ramsbottom to the M60 at Whitefield, north Manchester.
	M67	Linking the M60 at Denton, east Manchester, to Hattersley, east of Hyde.
	M69	Linking Coventry to Leicester.
	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

Sign	Link	Route
	M73	Linking the M74 near Uddingston to the A80, south-west of Cumbernauld.
	M74	Linking Glasgow (Rutherglen) to the A74(M) at Abington.
	M77	Linking the M8 at Glasgow (Pollokshields) to Fenwick near Kilmarnock.
	M80	Linking the M8 at Glasgow (Blochairn) and the M9 south of Stirling. There is a long gap in the motorway between Stepps (north-east Glasgow) and Haggs, near Falkirk, where the road is classified as the A80.
	M90	Linking Inverkeithing, north of the Forth Road Bridge, to Perth.

Three or more digit motorways and spurs

England

Sign	Link	Route
	M180	Linking the M18 at Thorne to the junction of the A15 (south of the Humber Bridge) and A180 (west of Grimsby).
	M181	A spur from the M180 running to the west of Scunthorpe.
	M271	Spurs from the M27 heading north to the A3057 (south of Romsey), and south to Totton.
	M275	A spur from the M27 on Horsea Island into Portsmouth (Landport).
	M602	Linking the M62 at Winton to Salford, just west of the centre of Manchester.
	M606	A spur from the M62 near Cleckheaton into Bradford.
	M621	Linking the M62 at Gildersome to the M1 near Rothwell. The motorway runs close to the centre of Leeds.

Scotland

Sign	Link	Route
	M876	Linking the M80 near Denny, north-west of Falkirk, to the A876 near the Kincardine Bridge. A short section of the motorway north of Stenhousemuir is classified as the M9.
	M898	A spur from the M8 near Erskine to the A898, the Erskine Bridge approach road.

Upgraded A-road designations

England and Wales

Sign	Link	Route
	A1(M)	The parts of the A1 between London and Gateshead that have been upgraded to motorway. There are six sections of the A1 that have been upgraded: From the M25 at South Mimms to near Baldock; From Alconbury (near Huntingdon) to Peterborough; From Blyth (near Worksop) to Adwick le Street (near Doncaster); From Darrington (near Pontefract) to the junction with the A64 (near Tadcaster); From Wetherby to Dishforth (near Ripon); From Barton (near Darlington) to Birtley (near Gateshead).
	A3(M)	Linking Horndean to Havant.
File:UK-Motorway-A38M.svg	A38(M)	A spur from the M6 at the Gravelly Hill Interchange (Spaghetti Junction) 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 near Castleton, into Cardiff (St Mellons).
File:UK-Motorway-A57M.svg	A57(M)	Known as the Mancunian Way, forms the southern part of Manchester's inner ring road, running from a junction on Deansgate to the A635 near Piccadilly Station. It is elevated and runs through the centre of the campus of UMIST, now part of the University of Manchester.
File:UK-Motorway-A58M.svg	A58(M)	The western part of the Leeds inner ring road, running from Wellington Road (A58) to join the A64(M) at the junction with Claypit Lane (also A58).
File:UK-Motorway-A64M.svg	A64(M)	The eastern part of the Leeds inner ring road, running from the A58(M) at the junction with Claypit Lane (A58), to York Road (A64).
File:UK-Motorway-A66M.svg	A66(M)	A spur from the A1(M) near Cleasby joining the A66 heading into Darlington.
	A167(M)	An urban motorway in central Newcastle upon Tyne running from just north of the Tyne Bridge to just north of Newcastle University.
	A194(M)	Linking the A1(M) at Birtley (near Gateshead) to A194 near Wardley, leading to the Tyne Tunnel.
	A308(M)	A spur from the M4 junction 8/9 to Bray near Maidenhead.
File:UK-Motorway-A329M.svg	A329(M)	Linking Bracknell to Winnersh near Reading, crossing the M4.
	A404(M)	A spur from the M4 junction 8/9 to the west of Maidenhead.
File:UK-Motorway-A601M.svg	A601(M)	A spur from the M6 at Carnforth to the A6 near Warton. The southern part is single carriageway.
File:UK-Motorway-A627M.svg	A627(M)	Linking Rochdale and Chadderton near Oldham, crossing the M62.

Scotland

Sign	Link	Route
File:UK-Motorway-A74M.svg	A74(M)	Linking the M74 at Abington to Gretna.
File:UK-Motorway-A823M.svg	A823(M)	A spur from the M90 near Rosyth to the A823 south of Dunfermline.

Former motorways

England

Roads which used to be motorways but have been downgraded:

Sign	Link	Route
	M15	The designation for the Ringway 2 upgrade of the A406 (North Circular Road) and A205 (South Circular Road). Only the section between junction 4 of the M11 and Redbridge Roundabout was built to motorway standard, and was initially signed as e M11 because the section built, at the time only led onto the M11. When the route was extended to Beckton, the section of M11 was redesignated as the A406.
	M41	The London West Cross Route, a spur from the London Westway (A40(M)) and the only part of the western section of the London Motorway Box to be built, now A3220.
	A18(M)	A spur from M18. Mostly now part of M180, although a section has been abandoned.
	A40(M)	The London Westway, now the A40.
	—	The Tring bypass, now the A41 [1].
	—	A spur towards Leicester from M1 at junction 21, now part of the A563 [2].
	A102(M)	The London East Cross Route, in two sections: Hackney Wick to Old Ford (now the A12); Blackwall Tunnel to the Sun-in-the-Sands roundabout (now the A102). Was the eastern section of the London Motorway Box.
File:UK-Motorway-A329M.svg	A329(M)	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.
File:UK-Motorway-A6144M.svg	A6144(M)	Formerly the longest single-carriageway motorway spur in the United Kingdom from the M60 north of Sale towards Carrington. Now just a spur of the A6144.

Motorways that have been renamed

England

Sign	Link	Route
	M16	Originally to be the northern section of the M25 but was renumbered prior to opening.
	M63	Merged with parts of the M62 and M66 to form the new M60 Manchester orbital motorway.
	—	Now M90 J10-11. Previously the M90 carried on along the spur into Perth, leaving the main route ahead as the M85. [3]
M531	—	Now the southern section of the M53 [4].
A20M	—	Now the M20 from J5-8.[5]
A423M	—	Originally A4(M) [6] and then part of the M4. Now the A404(M). [7]
A6127M	—	Now the A167(M). [8]

Motorways that are not trunk roads

England

Sign	Link	Route
	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 [9]:
  • 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. [10]
• M31, a bypass of the busiest section of the M25, cutting the corner for traffic from the West. [11]
• M59, M58 junction 2 to M55 junction 2.[12]
• M64, between Stoke-on-Trent 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 M62 (now the M60) near Pendlebury.[13]
• M650, Airedale Motorway from near Silsden to Shipley. [14]
• 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. [15]
• A556(M), which would have cut the corner between the M6 and M56 near Warrington. [16]

There have been many plans for motorways in the UK that have gone unbuilt, for one reason or the other. A lack of money or political will, environmental reasons, traffic reasons and public opposition being the main ones. Below is a not exhaustive list of plans that didn't get built:

• Castle Donington bypass, a short spur off the M1;
• Chippenham Spur, off the M4;
• Strensham - Solihull/Coventry motorway, a link between the M50 and M42 or M69. [17]

Many cities had urban motorway plans, most of which weren't built. London, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester all had extensive plans.

Northern Ireland

Single-digit motorways

Sign	Link	Route
	M1	Linking Belfast to Dungannon.
	M2	In two sections, one linking Belfast to Antrim, and the other bypassing Ballymena. The section in between was planned, but never built.
	M3	Linking the M2 in north Belfast to the A2 Sydenham Bypass in east Belfast.
	M5	Linking the M2 in north Belfast to Newtownabbey.

Two-digit motorways

Sign	Link	Route
	M12	A spur from the M1 near Derrymacash to the north of Portadown.
	M22	Linking the M2 at Antrim to Randalstown.

Upgraded A-road designations

Sign	Link	Route
File:UK-Motorway-A8M.svg	A8(M)	A spur from the M2 near Glengormley to the A8 north-west of Newtownabbey.

External links

• The UK Roads Portal
• Motorway Database
• Pathetic Motorways
• Northern Ireland Roads Site