United Kingdom by campervan: driving, tolls and rules
Driving a campervan in United Kingdom: speed limits, tolls, low-emission zones, required equipment and key road rules. What to know before you go.
Published 18 September 2026Last checked 18 September 2026
Currency
Pound sterling
GBP, not the euro. £0.8588 to €1 on 18 September 2026
Language
English
Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish appear on signs
Driving
Left
Motorway 70 mph, single carriageway 60 mph
Power
230V, type G
The flat three-pin plug. Continental plugs need adapters
Tap water
Safe to drink
Everywhere in all four nations
Emergency
999 or 112
Both work, both free, from any phone
Driving
Driving
The United Kingdom drives on the left, and that is the biggest adjustment a continental visitor makes. In a wide vehicle with the wheel on the wrong side it takes two full days before roundabouts and right turns stop needing conscious thought. Give yourself an easy first day, take the roundabouts slowly, and remember that on a single track road the give way is decided by whoever is nearest a passing place, not by who arrived first.
Speed limits in mph, and the weight that changes them
| Vehicle | Built-up | Single | Dual | Motorway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car or motorcycle | 30 | 60 | 70 | 70 |
| Motorhome up to 3.05 t unladen | 30 | 60 | 70 | 70 |
| Motorhome over 3.05 t unladen | 30 | 50 | 60 | 70 |
| Car towing a caravan or trailer | 30 | 50 | 60 | 60 |
That 3.05 tonne figure is maximum unladen weight, not gross vehicle weight. It is the number most guides get wrong, and it is the reason a 3.5 tonne motorhome can still be on the car limits while a heavier one is not. Two nations vary the table: built-up areas in Wales default to 20 mph rather than 30, and in Scotland goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes are held to 40 on a single carriageway and 50 on a dual carriageway.
The toll crossings, and a motorhome's class at each
| Crossing | What a motorhome pays | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Dartford Crossing, Dart Charge | £3.50 | GOV.UK puts motorhomes in Class B with cars. Payable 06:00 to 22:00 every day including bank holidays, and you must pay by midnight the day after you cross. £2.80 on a pre-pay account. No barriers, no cash at the road |
| M6 Toll | £20.20 | Class 4, which is two axles with the vehicle over 1.3 m high at the first axle, for the full length of the road. £17.60 on the operator's account. A car is £12.00. Tap a card at the plaza |
| Severn crossings | free | Both bridges into Wales went toll free on 17 December 2018. Nothing to pay and nothing to arrange |
London: ULEZ, and what happens over 3.5 tonnes
- The ULEZ covers every London borough and does not include the M25 itself. £12.50 a day for a non-compliant vehicle, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
- It applies to cars, motorcycles, vans and specialist vehicles up to and including 3.5 tonnes, and minibuses up to 5 tonnes.
England's clean air zones, and why they charge a motorhome
- Seven zones as of September 2026: Bath, Bradford, Sheffield and Tyneside are Class C. Birmingham and Bristol are Class D. Portsmouth is Class B. Greater Manchester's charging scheme was dropped, confirmed on gov.uk in February 2025.
- Class B charges buses, coaches, taxis and heavy goods vehicles. Class C adds vans and minibuses. Class D adds cars.
Scotland's low emission zones
- Four, all in city centres: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. They run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including Christmas Day. Enforcement began on 30 May 2024 in Dundee and 1 June 2024 in Edinburgh.
- The standards are set nationally by the Low Emission Zones (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations: Euro 4 for petrol cars and vans, Euro 6 for diesel cars and vans, Euro VI for diesel buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles.
Fuel, parking and the rest
- Diesel is the dearer fuel, at 190.72 pence a litre against 168.14 for petrol in the week of 14 September 2026. Diesel is the black pump, unleaded the green one.
- Supermarket forecourts on the edge of town are the cheapest, motorway services the dearest. Fill before the Highlands, before the Hebridean ferry and before any peninsula.
What a charging zone costs when you get it wrong
The Scottish penalty doubles. A first penalty charge notice is £60, halved to £30 if you pay within 14 days. Each further breach by the same vehicle in the same zone within 90 days doubles the amount, up to £480 for a car or light goods vehicle and £960 for a minibus, bus, coach or heavy goods vehicle. It resets to £60 once 90 days pass without a breach. A non-compliant van driving in and out of Glasgow across a long weekend can get through most of that range without noticing.