M6 motorway

M6
M6 highlighted in blue Show interactive map Shown with UK motorway network Show UK motorways map
Gravelly Hill Interchange, best known as Spaghetti Junction
Route information
Part of E05, E18, E22 and E24
Maintained by National Highways
Length	232.2 mi (373.7 km)
Existed	1958–present
History	Opened: 1958 Latest extension: 2008
Major junctions
Southeast end	Catthorpe 52°24′01″N 1°10′31″W / 52.4004°N 1.1752°W / 52.4004; -1.1752 (M6, southern terminus)
Major intersections	M1 motorway J2 → M69 motorway J3a → M6 Toll J4 → M42 motorway J4a → M42 motorway J6 → A38(M) motorway J8 → M5 motorway J10a → M54 motorway J11a → M6 Toll J20 → M56 motorway J21a → M62 motorway J26 → M58 motorway J29 → M65 motorway J30 → M61 motorway J32 → M55 motorway J45 → A74(M) motorway
Northwest end	Gretna 54°59′35″N 3°02′54″W / 54.9930°N 3.0482°W / 54.9930; -3.0482 (M6, northern terminus)
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Counties	Leicestershire Warwickshire West Midlands Staffordshire Cheshire Merseyside Greater Manchester Lancashire Cumbria
Primary destinations	Rugby Coventry Birmingham Walsall Wolverhampton Cannock Stafford Stoke-on-Trent Newcastle-under-Lyme Crewe Warrington Wigan Preston Lancaster Kendal Penrith Carlisle
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← M5 → M6 Toll

The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over 230 miles (370 km) from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby before heading north-west. It passes Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Preston, Lancaster and Carlisle before terminating at Junction 45 near Gretna. Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74(M) which continues to Glasgow as the M74. Its busiest sections are between junctions 4 and 10a in the West Midlands, and junctions 16 to 19 in Cheshire; these sections have now been converted to smart motorways.

It incorporated the Preston By-pass, the first length of motorway opened in the UK and forms part of a motorway "Backbone of Britain", running north–south between London and Glasgow via the industrial North of England. It is also part of the east–west route between the Midlands and the east-coast ports. The section from the M1 to the M6 Toll split near Birmingham forms part of the unsigned E-road E 24 and the section from the M6 Toll and the M42 forms part of E 05.