UK speed limits explained, including the 20mph rules

Britain has three national speed limits for cars, one rule for working out which applies when there is no sign, and a growing set of local exceptions at 20mph. Get the three limits and the one rule right and you will be correct on almost every road in the country. This guide covers all of it, plus what happens when you get it wrong.

The national limits for cars

Road type	Cars and motorcycles	Cars towing a trailer or caravan	Vans (over 2 tonnes laden)
Built-up areas	30mph	30mph	30mph
Single carriageway	60mph	50mph	50mph
Dual carriageway	70mph	60mph	60mph
Motorway	70mph	60mph	70mph

The first thing to notice is that a van has lower limits than a car on single and dual carriageways. Car-derived vans (small vans built on a car platform, like a Fiesta or Corsa van) follow car limits; anything larger follows the van column. Towing anything drops you to the middle column on every road except in town.

Limits apply to the fastest you may go, not the speed you should go. The Highway Code is explicit that the limit does not mean it is safe to drive at that speed in all conditions, and driving at the limit in fog or heavy rain can still be careless driving.

How to tell the limit when there is no sign

You will not see a repeater sign on most roads. The rule that fills the gap is street lighting.

A road with street lights, set no more than 200 yards apart, is a built-up area with a 30mph limit unless signs say otherwise. That applies regardless of what the road looks like: a wide dual carriageway lit by street lamps is 30 unless there are signs raising it, and plenty of cameras sit on exactly those roads.

A road with no street lighting is subject to the national speed limit: 60 on a single carriageway, 70 on a dual carriageway. That is what the white circle with a black diagonal stripe means. It does not mean “no limit”; it means the national limit for that road and that vehicle.

Where a local limit differs from either default, it is signed at the start and repeated at intervals. Our guide to UK road signs covers the signs that set and end limits.

20mph limits

These are now common enough to need their own section.

Wales. Since 17 September 2023 the default limit on restricted roads, meaning roads with street lighting, has been 20mph across Wales. Councils can raise individual roads to 30 by signing them, and a review in 2024 and 2025 moved a few hundred roads back up, but the default remains 20. If you are driving in a Welsh town and see no sign, assume 20.

England. The default is still 30, but councils have set 20mph limits on a large and growing number of roads. Some are signed 20 zones with traffic calming; some are 20 limits with signs only. London boroughs, Bristol, Oxford, Manchester and many others have blanket 20 limits across residential areas and town centres. There is no way to know without looking for the signs, and the signs are often small.

Scotland. The Scottish Government intends most restricted roads to be 20mph, with councils implementing it through 2025 and 2026. Edinburgh and a number of other councils are largely complete.

Cameras enforce 20 limits the same way as any other, and the same thresholds apply. Doing 28 in a 20 is a fixed penalty; 35 in a 20 puts you in the band that can mean a ban.

Enforcement and tolerances

The police in England and Wales have a guideline threshold of 10% plus 2mph before enforcing. That means 35 in a 30, 46 in a 40, 57 in a 50, 68 in a 60 and 79 in a 70. It is guidance, not law, and individual forces and cameras can enforce from 1mph over the limit; some forces have said publicly that they do. Treat the limit as the limit.

If you are caught, what happens depends on how far over you were:

• Up to about 10% plus 9mph over (so 35 to 42 in a 30) you will usually be offered a speed awareness course instead of points, provided you have not done one in the past three years. Our guide to what happens on a speed awareness course covers the details.
• Otherwise a fixed penalty of £100 and three points.
• Above the fixed penalty thresholds, or if you refuse the fixed penalty, the case goes to court, where fines are calculated as a percentage of weekly income in three bands. Band C, for the worst cases, is 125% to 175% of weekly income, up to £1,000 or £2,500 on a motorway, with either six points or a ban of 7 to 56 days.

The full penalty structure is in our guide to driving penalties. New drivers should remember that six points within two years of passing revokes the licence, and two ordinary speeding tickets get you there; see our learner and new driver rules.

Motorways and smart motorways

The 70mph motorway limit is fixed, but on smart motorways the overhead gantries can lower it, and those variable limits are enforced by cameras from the moment the sign changes. A red X over a lane means the lane is closed, and driving in it is a £100 fixed penalty with three points. Our guides to motorway rules and smart motorways cover both.

Speed and your insurance

Speeding convictions have to be declared to insurers for five years and raise premiums; a single SP30 adds a modest amount, a second adds a lot. Telematics insurance looks at speed directly: Rooster’s driving score records how often you exceed the limit, and it is one of the largest factors in whether your renewal goes up or down. Our guide to cheaper insurance through safe driving covers what the app measures.

Frequently asked questions

What is the national speed limit in the UK?

60mph on single carriageways and 70mph on dual carriageways and motorways for cars. 30mph in built-up areas.

What is the speed limit when there are no signs?

If the road has street lights, 30mph in England and Scotland and 20mph in Wales. If it has no street lights, the national limit for that road type.

Is 10% over the speed limit allowed?

No. The 10% plus 2mph figure is police enforcement guidance, not a legal allowance, and forces can and do prosecute below it.

What is the speed limit for a van?

50mph on single carriageways and 60mph on dual carriageways for vans over 2 tonnes laden. 70mph on motorways. Car-derived vans follow car limits.

Are 20mph limits enforced?

Yes, by cameras and by police, with the same fixed penalty and course thresholds as any other limit.

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