UK Clean Air Zones and ULEZ Charges 2026: All 14 Zones

UK clean air zones and ULEZ charges come down to one count: of 14 camera zones, five charge a private car. They are London’s ULEZ (GBP 12.50) and Congestion Charge, plus Birmingham, Bristol and Oxford. Scotland’s four low emission zones only issue fines. Clean air zones, low emission zones and the ULEZ are three different schemes, and paying a charge works differently from paying a penalty.

Five more English zones never charge a private car: Bath, Bradford, Sheffield, Newcastle and Portsmouth. The first question is therefore which kind of zone is ahead. Each zone name in the table links to a page with its boundary, hours and exemptions.

UK clean air zones and ULEZ charges: all 14 zones for a car

Charges and penalties below are the figures set by the bodies that run each scheme: Transport for London (London), the GOV.UK Clean Air Zone service (English clean air zones), Oxfordshire County Council (Oxford) and the Scottish local authorities (the four low emission zones).

Penalty amounts for the English zones that never charge cars apply to the vehicle classes they do charge: taxis, vans, buses and lorries. York also has a zone, but it covers local bus services only and does not affect cars. Proposed zones that were dropped, such as Greater Manchester and Leeds, are not listed.

Clean air zone, low emission zone and ULEZ: three different schemes

Clean air zone (England). According to the UK government’s clean air zone framework, a clean air zone is a charging scheme run by the city council. There are four classes. Classes A to C cover buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles, and from Class C also vans and minibuses. Only Class D adds private cars. Birmingham and Bristol are the two Class D zones, so they are the only English clean air zones that bill a car.

Low emission zone (Scotland). The Scottish zones are a ban enforced by penalty, not a charge. There is nothing to buy, so a car below Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel should not enter. The penalty is GBP 60, and it doubles each time the same car breaks the rule again within 90 days, up to GBP 480 for a car (Scottish low emission zone rules, as applied by Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen councils).

ULEZ (London). Transport for London runs the ULEZ across all 32 boroughs and the City of London, but not the M25 itself. It operates every day except Christmas Day. It is a charge, not a ban. The Congestion Charge is a separate central-London fee of GBP 18 a day. It applies to almost every car in charging hours, whatever its emissions (TfL). The London ULEZ and Congestion Charge guide explains how the two add up on one trip.

Which cars pass: Euro 4 petrol, Euro 6 diesel

One car standard covers most of the country. Euro 4 for petrol and Euro 6 for diesel apply in London’s ULEZ, the Class D zones in Birmingham and Bristol, and Scotland’s low emission zones. Fully electric cars meet it everywhere.

Oxford is the exception. Its Zero Emission Zone charges GBP 4 a day even for a car that meets Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel. Ultra-low-emission vehicles under 75 g/km pay GBP 2, and zero-emission cars pay nothing. The charge applies from 07:00 to 19:00 (Oxfordshire County Council).

The emission zone checker compares a fuel type and Euro class against each zone. A foreign-registered car follows the same rules. The camera reads the plate, and the owner proves the Euro standard with the registration document.

Paying a zone charge or penalty: the official routes

Each kind of zone has one official payment channel and its own deadline. Pay only on the official sites, because lookalike payment pages that add a handling fee are common.

1. London (ULEZ and Congestion Charge). Pay on tfl.gov.uk or set up Auto Pay. According to TfL, the daily ULEZ charge can be paid in advance, on the day, or by midnight on the third day after you drove in the zone. TfL also asks owners of non-UK vehicles to register the car, even if it meets the standard. A missed ULEZ payment becomes a GBP 180 penalty, reduced to GBP 90 if paid within 14 days.
2. English clean air zones. Use the GOV.UK clean air zone service. You can pay up to 6 days before you travel, on the day, or by 11:59pm on the sixth day after you drove in. The same service checks whether your vehicle owes anything. After the deadline, the penalty charge notice is GBP 120 in most zones, with GBP 60 if paid within 14 days where the table shows it.
3. Oxford. Pay the Zero Emission Zone charge to Oxfordshire County Council. The penalty is GBP 60, or GBP 30 within 14 days.
4. Scotland. There is no charge to pay. The GBP 60 penalty (GBP 30 within 14 days) goes to the registered keeper.

No zone sends an invoice. After a missed deadline, the next letter is a penalty notice. If the car is hired, the notice goes to the rental company as registered keeper, and it usually passes the amount on with its own administration fee. Who pays a driving fine abroad covers how that works and how to deal with a notice that arrives after you have gone home. The simplest protection is to pay the daily charge yourself on the day, and to keep the receipt until the rental is closed.

When one trip crosses several zones

Each scheme bills separately. A non-compliant diesel that starts in central Bristol and ends in central London on a weekday could owe Bristol’s GBP 9, the ULEZ GBP 12.50 and the Congestion Charge GBP 18. Driving round London on the M25 avoids the ULEZ, because the motorway sits outside the zone. For the full English and Scottish lists, see the UK emission zones overview. The Europe emission zones report puts the UK next to the continent. Speed limits and other rules for the rest of the trip are on the United Kingdom driving page.

Official sources

• Transport for London: ULEZ and Congestion Charge (tfl.gov.uk)
• GOV.UK: Clean Air Zone charge payment and vehicle checker
• Oxfordshire County Council: Zero Emission Zone
• Glasgow, City of Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen councils: low emission zone rules and penalties