How many motorways are there in the UK?

How Many Motorways Are in The UK? There are about 50 motorways in the UK, many of which have an interesting history. The first motorway in the UK was the Preston Bypass in Lancashire. It opened in 1958 and is now part of the M6 motorway.



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There is no M7 because there has never been a need to replace the A7 with a motorway. There was an idea in the 1990s to build a new toll road linking Edinburgh and the A74 (M), along the lines of the A702, and the idea was floated that this could take the M7 number.

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The top three longest motorways in the UK are:
  • M6: Catthorpe, Leicestershire — Gretna Green, Dumfriesshire – Spread: 236 miles (379.8km)
  • M1: Staples Corner, London — Hook Moor, Yorkshire – Spread: 200 miles (321.9km)
  • M4: Chiswick, London — Pont Abraham, Carmarthenshire – Spread: 191.9 miles (308.8 km)


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Britain's first motorway, the Preston by-pass, opened in 1958. Designed by Lancashire County Council under civil engineer Sir James Drake – regarded as the pioneer of the UK motorway network – it's now part of the M6. The next 10 years saw UK's network expand as hundreds of miles of motorway were built.

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In later years, as the M1 was extended southwards into London and the M25 was built, the M10's original purpose eroded. It was sometimes suggested that the motorway might have been extended to meet the M25 at junction 22, but this was never proposed.

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Hanger Lane Gyratory – West London. Magic Roundabout – Swindon. Gravelly Hill Interchange (Spaghetti Junction) – Birmingham.

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Located in London, the capital of England, the M25 is an orbital motorway that almost completely encircles the largest city of the country. The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a British motorway that surrounds London. It was built as part of the ringways scheme.

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No Motorway
  • Cornwall.
  • Dorset.
  • Norfolk.
  • Rutland.
  • Suffolk.


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The M9 is a major motorway in Scotland. It runs from the outskirts of Edinburgh, bypassing the towns of Linlithgow, Falkirk, Grangemouth and Stirling to end at Dunblane.

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The A7 (Carlisle to Edinburgh) goes through more mountainous land. A motorway is not needed in the region, so it is not built. The A7 has been deemed an appropriate route for traffic that is needed to go from Carlisle to Edinburgh.

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The M45 is a motorway in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, England and is 7.9 miles (12.7 km) long. It runs between junction 17 of the M1 motorway south east of Rugby and a junction with the A45 road southwest of Rugby. It has one of the lowest traffic volumes of the United Kingdom motorway system.

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The M96, positioned 20 miles from the M5 and the M50, has remained a well-hidden secret for years that saves countless lives. The 400-metre-long stretch of road in Moreton-in-Marsh has seen more crashes and traffic incidents than major routes because of its special purpose of training blue light workers.

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Hardknott Pass is considered to be one of the most challenging in the UK. It has earned this consideration due to its series of hairpin bends and the high risk of ice on the road. It is a steep, twisting, single-track road that cuts right through the heart of the Lake District between the Duddon Valley and Eskdale.

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