Nearly 14,000 drivers have had their say, and the results are in: the UK's worst motorway is... the M25.
10 worst motorways and the % of drivers who ranked it bottom
1. M25: 40%
2. M6: 21%
3. M1: 13%
4. M5: 5%
5. M62: 4%
6. M4: 3%
7. M42: 2%
8. M60: 1%
9. M8: 1%
10. M27: 1%
The infamous London Orbital took the unwanted top spot in an AA survey, with a massive 40% of votes. And honestly, is anyone shocked? Even if you don’t use it often, you’ve probably heard the horror stories.
It’s not the first time the M25 has been crowned the worst. A similar poll 12 years ago also put it dead last—though back then, only 30% of people hated it the most. That frustration has only grown, and for good reason.
Drivers have a long list of complaints about the M25 - poor road surfaces, endless congestion, and those infuriating gantry signs slowing everything down. One driver summed it up: “I have been horrified by aggressive drivers changing several lanes impulsively, at speed, without indicating. It feels as if the national speed limit has been abandoned there. 80 mph is not only acceptable but essential and average."
It’s not just the M25 getting hate. Nine of the top 10 most disliked motorways all have one thing in common—stretches of ‘smart’ motorway.
Smart motorways remove the hard shoulder to supposedly ease congestion, but they’ve been plagued with safety concerns. The M6, which came second in the poll, has multiple smart sections, and drivers aren’t impressed. One described it as: “Dangerous. Always holdups or accidents."
The M1 took third place, with many saying the lack of a hard shoulder and endless 50mph zones make journeys a nightmare.
In fact, the AA survey found that a third of drivers feel less safe on smart motorways now than they did three years ago. One even admitted: "Any smart motorway scares me. I count the miles until the end and heave a sigh of relief."
The controversy isn’t new. A recent report found that a software failure left a nine-mile stretch of the M62 without breakdown detection for an entire month. In response, the government scrapped plans for any new smart motorways in 2023.
But here’s the catch—there’s no plan to bring back hard shoulders where they’ve already been removed. Instead, £390 million has been spent adding 150 extra emergency stopping areas to help stranded drivers.
Despite all the complaints, National Highways insists smart motorways are among the safest roads in the UK. But drivers clearly aren’t buying it. And with congestion, accidents, and endless roadworks still a problem, the M25’s reign as the UK’s most hated motorway isn’t ending anytime soon.
