Road rankings

Britain’s busiest roads

Motorways and A-roads ranked by how many vehicles use them on an average day in 2025, and by total traffic.

Last updated: 15 September 2026
Data source: Department for Transport
Records analysed: 16,031 count points on 999 roads in 2025
Methodology: View methodology

The busiest motorway is the M25, averaging 145,590 vehicles a day along its length in 2025. The busiest A-road is the A282, with 107,017. The M6 carries the most traffic in total: 8.59 billion vehicle miles.

Busiest motorways, 2025

Average daily flow along the whole road, both directions.

The 10 motorways with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Motorway	Vehicles a day
M25 Kent to Thurrock	145,590
M60 Bury to Stockport	131,422
M1 Barnet to Leeds	115,234
M27 Hampshire to Portsmouth	105,676
M56 Stockport to West Cheshire	104,912
M62 Liverpool to East Riding of Yorkshire	97,736
M5 Sandwell to Devon	97,573
M6 Leicestershire to Cumberland	95,479
A38(M) In Birmingham	94,794
M23 Surrey to West Sussex	92,982

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

Busiest A-roads, 2025

Average daily flow along the whole road, both directions.

The 10 A-roads with the highest average daily flow, 2025
A-road	Vehicles a day
A282 Thurrock to Kent	107,017
A406 Hounslow to Newham	87,764
A720 City of Edinburgh to East Lothian	68,177
A13 Tower Hamlets to Southend-on-Sea	64,709
A1261 In Tower Hamlets	60,182
A331 In Surrey	57,404
A14 Suffolk to Leicestershire	56,581
A127 Havering to Southend-on-Sea	56,050
A42 In Leicestershire	55,706
A102 Hackney to Greenwich	52,812

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

Most traffic in total, 2025

Vehicle miles a year: busy and long roads come first.

The 10 roads with the most vehicle miles, 2025
Road	Vehicle miles
M6 246 miles	8.6bn
M1 203 miles	8.6bn
M4 197 miles	6.6bn
M25 118 miles	6.3bn
M5 166 miles	5.9bn
A1(M) 157 miles	4.0bn
A1 275 miles	3.8bn
M62 103 miles	3.7bn
A38 296 miles	3.1bn
M40 91 miles	3.1bn

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated 15 Sept 2026

Top 100 roads by vehicles a day

The 100 busiest motorways and A-roads by average daily flow, 2025
#
1	M25Kent to Thurrock	118.4	145,590	6.3bn	11.4%	−0.7%
2	M60Bury to Stockport	37.8	131,422	1.8bn	6.2%	+5.7%
3	M1Barnet to Leeds	203.4	115,234	8.6bn	13.2%	+0.6%
4	A282Thurrock to Kent	7.4	107,017	289m	14.6%	+0.1%
5	M27Hampshire to Portsmouth	32.1	105,676	1.2bn	5.3%	+0.2%
6	M56Stockport to West Cheshire	37.5	104,912	1.4bn	8.2%	+3.8%
7	M62Liverpool to East Riding of Yorkshire	103.3	97,736	3.7bn	13.8%	+1.3%
8	M5Sandwell to Devon	165.9	97,573	5.9bn	9.0%	+6.4%
9	M6Leicestershire to Cumberland	246.4	95,479	8.6bn	14.1%	+9.0%
10	A38(M)In Birmingham	3.0	94,794	104m	3.6%	−2.7%
11	M23Surrey to West Sussex	17.4	92,982	591m	4.9%	−0.3%
12	M40Buckinghamshire to Warwickshire	90.9	92,260	3.1bn	8.8%	−4.0%
13	M4Hounslow to Carmarthenshire	196.5	91,647	6.6bn	7.9%	−0.8%
14	M3Surrey to Hampshire	62.5	91,563	2.1bn	6.2%	−3.5%
15	M42Worcestershire to Leicestershire	44.8	89,637	1.5bn	11.8%	−4.9%
16	M61Salford to Lancashire	24.8	88,269	799m	7.5%	+1.9%
17	A406Hounslow to Newham	28.5	87,764	913m	4.3%	−4.4%
18	M11Redbridge to Cambridgeshire	56.8	83,615	1.7bn	11.4%	+8.7%
19	M57Knowsley to Sefton	11.2	77,479	317m	7.7%	+7.7%
20	M32South Gloucestershire to City of Bristol	4.5	76,691	126m	3.9%	−6.7%
21	M66Lancashire to Bury	8.7	74,848	238m	6.7%	+2.9%
22	A167(M)In Newcastle upon Tyne	1.6	74,846	44m	1.4%	+23.7%
23	M2In Kent	28.7	73,043	765m	8.5%	−0.7%
24	A57(M)In Manchester	1.5	72,344	40m	2.5%	+12.5%
25	M275In Portsmouth	2.7	71,021	70m	2.1%	+1.2%
26	M8City of Edinburgh to Renfrewshire	67.0	69,777	1.7bn	7.5%	+1.5%
27	A1(M)Hertfordshire to Gateshead	156.5	69,300	4.0bn	13.2%	+0.5%
28	M73In North Lanarkshire	7.5	68,987	189m	9.9%	+18.4%
29	M602In Salford	4.1	68,648	103m	4.1%	−0.2%
30	A3(M)In Hampshire	5.7	68,581	143m	3.6%	−3.0%
31	A58(M)In Leeds	1.1	68,550	28m	1.6%	+0.1%
32	A720City of Edinburgh to East Lothian	14.0	68,177	348m	5.3%	+4.3%
33	M18Rotherham to East Riding of Yorkshire	29.3	67,793	725m	17.4%	−4.2%
34	M53Wirral to West Cheshire	22.3	65,277	531m	5.2%	+5.7%
35	M20In Kent	51.4	64,791	1.2bn	13.4%	+2.2%
36	A13Tower Hamlets to Southend-on-Sea	47.0	64,709	1.1bn	7.1%	+3.8%
37	M606Kirklees to Bradford	2.5	62,578	57m	8.1%	−10.8%
38	M65In Lancashire	29.0	62,005	656m	5.4%	+0.8%
39	A329(M)In Wokingham	5.0	61,671	113m	5.4%	−6.0%
40	M55Lancashire to Blackpool	14.0	61,484	314m	4.8%	+2.3%
41	A1261In Tower Hamlets	1.8	60,182	40m	3.4%	−12.8%
42	M69Warwickshire to Leicestershire	17.3	59,202	374m	9.2%	+0.3%
43	A404(M)In Windsor and Maidenhead	2.5	58,950	54m	3.5%	+6.9%
44	A331In Surrey	9.5	57,404	199m	2.9%	−1.4%
45	M621Kirklees to Leeds	10.8	57,171	225m	6.0%	−6.3%
46	A14Suffolk to Leicestershire	142.8	56,581	2.9bn	15.2%	+7.1%
47	A127Havering to Southend-on-Sea	25.7	56,050	526m	3.5%	−8.7%
48	A42In Leicestershire	15.0	55,706	305m	13.8%	+6.0%
49	M74Glasgow City to South Lanarkshire	42.5	55,118	855m	13.6%	+5.3%
50	M77Glasgow City to East Ayrshire	19.6	54,506	390m	6.7%	+6.6%
51	A102Hackney to Greenwich	6.3	52,812	121m	3.5%	−14.2%
52	A500Staffordshire to East Cheshire	20.9	52,565	401m	7.9%	+8.2%
53	M80Glasgow City to Stirling	25.8	52,195	492m	7.6%	+2.4%
54	A4232In Cardiff	13.1	51,023	244m	3.8%	−8.9%
55	M54Staffordshire to Telford and Wrekin	24.8	50,949	461m	9.5%	−0.2%
56	A3City of London to Portsmouth	85.6	50,394	1.6bn	3.2%	−5.1%
57	A48(M)Newport to Cardiff	2.4	49,616	44m	6.0%	+5.1%
58	A725North Lanarkshire to South Lanarkshire	11.5	49,017	206m	5.4%	+6.7%
59	A5103In Manchester	6.7	48,511	119m	1.8%	−3.2%
60	A1260In Peterborough	3.6	47,351	62m	2.1%	+6.8%
61	A1058Newcastle upon Tyne to North Tyneside	8.9	46,334	151m	0.9%	+7.6%
62	A12Tower Hamlets to Suffolk	120.6	46,072	2.0bn	6.1%	−4.9%
63	A2Southwark to Kent	80.1	46,064	1.3bn	5.6%	−0.7%
64	A627(M)Oldham to Rochdale	4.5	46,036	76m	5.4%	+5.9%
65	A64(M)In Leeds	1.0	44,043	16m	1.6%	+7.8%
66	M67In Tameside	4.8	43,856	77m	5.5%	−2.8%
67	A289Kent to Medway	9.5	43,777	152m	4.0%	+6.7%
68	A1139In Peterborough	12.5	42,892	196m	8.4%	−4.8%
69	M271Hampshire to Southampton	2.6	42,798	41m	10.4%	+5.0%
70	M58Sefton to Wigan	12.8	42,200	197m	8.4%	+6.9%
71	A130In Essex	16.9	42,152	260m	5.0%	+7.1%
72	A4053In Coventry	4.6	42,095	71m	1.3%	−9.7%
73	M26In Kent	9.8	42,084	151m	11.2%	−8.9%
74	A316Hounslow to Surrey	9.8	41,975	150m	2.1%	−8.5%
75	M9City of Edinburgh to Stirling	31.5	41,568	478m	7.6%	−6.6%
76	A194(M)Gateshead to South Tyneside	3.7	40,466	55m	6.1%	+10.1%
77	A55West Cheshire to Isle of Anglesey	89.3	40,110	1.3bn	5.5%	+2.9%
78	M180Doncaster to North Lincolnshire	25.7	39,391	370m	25.2%	−3.2%
79	A249In Kent	21.1	38,931	300m	8.6%	+3.5%
80	A4540In Birmingham	8.3	38,895	118m	2.5%	+2.2%
81	A380Devon to Torbay	19.4	38,821	275m	2.5%	+13.4%
82	A45North Northamptonshire to Birmingham	74.0	37,564	1.0bn	6.6%	−5.7%
83	M90City of Edinburgh to Perth & Kinross	43.1	37,563	591m	8.9%	−4.8%
84	A74(M)South Lanarkshire to Cumberland	49.7	37,540	681m	23.0%	+3.7%
85	A1City of London to City of Edinburgh	274.7	37,478	3.8bn	10.7%	+2.0%
86	A739East Dunbartonshire to Glasgow City	5.2	37,239	71m	1.0%	+4.1%
87	M6 TollWarwickshire to Staffordshire	29.8	37,220	405m	10.9%	−4.7%
88	A6514In Nottingham	5.1	37,201	69m	2.3%	−2.6%
89	A11Tower Hamlets to Norfolk	64.0	36,973	864m	6.9%	+2.5%
90	A555Stockport to Manchester	8.7	36,677	117m	4.0%	+56.6%
91	A19Doncaster to Northumberland	133.0	36,543	1.8bn	6.6%	+5.3%
92	A34Oxfordshire to Salford	155.7	36,279	2.1bn	7.8%	−1.2%
93	A4174South Gloucestershire to North Somerset	18.7	35,534	243m	3.1%	+6.9%
94	A27East Sussex to Wiltshire	110.9	35,484	1.4bn	3.6%	−2.5%
95	A601In Derby	2.5	35,106	32m	1.1%	−1.1%
96	A421Bedford to West Northamptonshire	48.9	34,816	621m	7.9%	+0.7%
97	A5460Leicestershire to Leicester	3.9	34,626	49m	2.2%	−5.4%
98	A4150In Wolverhampton	2.5	34,463	31m	2.3%	+2.1%
99	A312Harrow to Richmond upon Thames	14.7	34,428	185m	3.3%	−2.6%
100	A299In Kent	26.1	34,388	328m	4.1%	+7.5%

Data sources and methodology

Datasets used on this page
Figures	Source	Period	Records	Updated
Traffic counts	Road traffic statistics (AADF by count point) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring	2000 to 2025	16,031 count points on 999 roads in 2025	15 September 2026

Average daily flow is the average of every count point on the road in the year, weighted by link length, both directions combined.
Vehicle miles are average daily flow multiplied by link length and 365.
Short roads are included; a road through a city centre can be busy for its whole length.

How we calculate these figures All data sources

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Top 100 roads by vehicles a day

Data sources and methodology

More road rankings