15 UK charging zones
Clean air zones, low emission zones and what each one charges
Six different schemes operate in the UK and they are not interchangeable, even where they share a name. This page sets out what each instrument actually does, then compares all fifteen zones on the one figure most people are looking for: what a car pays, and the standard that avoids it.
33%
Car can be charged
27%
Penalty, no charge
40%
Cars not covered
| Category | Share |
|---|---|
| Car can be charged | 33% |
| Penalty, no charge | 27% |
| Cars not covered | 40% |
Most of the confusion around these zones comes from the names. Two cities can both say low emission zone and mean opposite things, and a driver who reads the London rules before a trip to Glasgow will arrive with a plan to pay a charge that does not exist. The distinction that matters is not the wording on the sign. It is whether the scheme lets you pay to enter, and which vehicle types it reaches.
The oldest of the fifteen has been running since 17 February 2003 and the newest began enforcing on 1 June 2024. Every figure below comes from the operator that sets it, with the date it applies from, and each zone has its own page carrying the full charge list, the boundary, the exemptions and the penalty.
Read this before the table
Six instruments, and why the names mislead
Each of these does a different job. The count beside each one is how many of the fifteen zones use it.
- 1 zone
Central London only, since 2003
Congestion Charge
A charge for entering the zone at all. It has nothing to do with what comes out of the exhaust, so a brand new petrol car pays the same as a twenty year old one. The only emissions link is a discount for fully electric vehicles registered for Auto Pay.
- 1 zone
Greater London, since 2008
Low Emission Zone, London
London's oldest emissions scheme, and the one people forget because it has never applied to cars or motorbikes. It charges larger vans, lorries, buses and coaches, and its penalties are the heaviest in the country. A motorhome or horsebox over 3.5 tonnes counts as a heavy vehicle here.
- 1 zone
Every London borough, since 2019
Ultra Low Emission Zone
The scheme that does cover cars, vans, minibuses and motorbikes across all of Greater London. Meet the standard and you pay nothing. Miss it and you pay a daily charge, which you can pay, so nothing stops you driving in.
- 7 zones
Seven English cities, since 2021
Clean Air Zone, classes A to D
England outside London uses a four rung ladder. Class A covers buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles. Class B adds heavy goods vehicles. Class C adds vans and minibuses. Only class D reaches private cars, and a council may add motorbikes to it. The class letter, not the city, tells you whether your vehicle is in scope.
- 4 zones
Four Scottish cities, since 2023
Low Emission Zone, Scotland
The same three letters as London's LEZ and a completely different instrument. There is no daily charge to pay, in any Scottish zone, for any vehicle. A non-compliant vehicle is not allowed in, and the first camera capture is a penalty that doubles on each repeat.
- 1 zone
Nine streets in Oxford, since 2022
Zero Emission Zone
A pilot that prices by carbon dioxide rather than by vehicle type. A zero emission vehicle pays nothing, an ultra low emission one pays a little, everything else pays more, so the newer vehicle is not always the cheaper one. Bus gates and pedestrian restrictions apply on top.
The distinction people get wrong
A Scottish LEZ is not a charging zone
In an English Clean Air Zone, and in both London emissions schemes, a non-compliant vehicle has a price. You pay the daily charge and the journey is legal. That is why those zones publish a charge for every vehicle type, and why the penalty only appears if you fail to pay.
In 4 Scottish zones there is no price, for any vehicle, at any time. A vehicle that fails the standard is not allowed in. Drive in anyway and the first camera capture is a £60 penalty, reduced to £30 within 14 days, and it doubles for each further contravention by the same vehicle in the same zone within 90 days, up to £480 for a car and £960 for a bus, coach or heavy goods vehicle. Ninety clear days reset it to £60.
So the practical planning question changes. For Birmingham or Bristol it is whether the charge is worth paying. For Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen or Dundee it is whether you can take the vehicle at all, and the honest answer for an older diesel is that you cannot. Motorbikes and mopeds are outside every Scottish zone, so a rider has nothing to check.
Every zone compared
What a car pays, and the standard that avoids it
Grouped by country, because the enforcement model differs between them. The standard column is what the vehicle has to meet for the charge not to apply, and the link under each zone goes to the operator's own pages.
England
11 zones
| Place | Scheme | A car pays | Standard that avoids it |
|---|---|---|---|
| LondonUltra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ)Transport for London | Ultra Low Emission ZoneSince 8 April 2019 | £12.50A day, however many times you enter | Euro 4 (petrol) or Euro 6 (diesel) |
| LondonLow Emission Zone (LEZ)Transport for London | Low Emission Zone, LondonSince 4 February 2008 | Never chargedOther vehicles pay from £100 | No standard applies to a private car in this zone. |
| Central LondonCongestion ChargeTransport for London | Congestion ChargeSince 17 February 2003 | £18A day, however many times you enter | No emissions standard avoids it |
| BathBath Clean Air ZoneBath and North East Somerset Council | Clean Air Zone, class CSince 15 March 2021 | Never chargedOther vehicles pay from £9 | No standard applies to a private car in this zone. |
| BirminghamBirmingham Clean Air ZoneBirmingham City Council | Clean Air Zone, class DSince 1 June 2021 | £8A day, however many times you enter | Euro 4 (petrol) or Euro 6 (diesel) |
| BristolBristol Clean Air ZoneBristol City Council | Clean Air Zone, class DSince 28 November 2022 | £9A day, however many times you enter |
|
| BradfordBradford Clean Air ZoneCity of Bradford Metropolitan District Council | Clean Air Zone, class CSince 26 September 2022 | Never chargedOther vehicles pay from £7 | No standard applies to a private car in this zone. |
| PortsmouthPortsmouth Clean Air ZonePortsmouth City Council | Clean Air Zone, class BSince 29 November 2021 | Never chargedOther vehicles pay from £10 | No standard applies to a private car in this zone. |
| SheffieldSheffield Clean Air ZoneSheffield City Council | Clean Air Zone, class CSince 27 February 2023 | Never chargedOther vehicles pay from £10 | No standard applies to a private car in this zone. |
| Newcastle and GatesheadTyneside Clean Air ZoneNewcastle City Council and Gateshead Council | Clean Air Zone, class CSince 30 January 2023 | Never chargedOther vehicles pay from £12.50 | No standard applies to a private car in this zone. |
| OxfordOxford Zero Emission Zone pilotOxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council | Zero Emission ZoneSince 28 February 2022 | Nothing to £10A day, set by the car's emissions |
|
Scotland
4 zones
| Place | Scheme | A car pays | Standard that avoids it |
|---|---|---|---|
| GlasgowGlasgow Low Emission ZoneGlasgow City Council | Low Emission Zone, ScotlandSince 1 June 2023 | No charge existsNon-compliant cars are barred, then fined |
|
| EdinburghEdinburgh Low Emission ZoneThe City of Edinburgh Council | Low Emission Zone, ScotlandSince 1 June 2024 | No charge existsNon-compliant cars are barred, then fined |
|
| AberdeenAberdeen Low Emission ZoneAberdeen City Council | Low Emission Zone, ScotlandSince 1 June 2024 | No charge existsNon-compliant cars are barred, then fined |
|
| DundeeDundee Low Emission ZoneDundee City Council | Low Emission Zone, ScotlandSince 30 May 2024 | No charge existsNon-compliant cars are barred, then fined |
|
None of the fifteen is in Wales or Northern Ireland, and neither has a charging zone in this dataset. A charge shown as never charged means the scheme has never applied to private cars, not that an exemption was granted.
Two things in that table catch people out more than the prices do. The first is the boundary. Several zones deliberately leave their own ring road outside the charge, so a non-compliant vehicle can cross Sheffield or circle central Birmingham for nothing and pays only when it turns in. Edinburgh does the same with Queen Street and the Meadows, and the M25 is not in the London ULEZ even where the motorway runs inside Greater London.
The second is vehicle classification. A motorhome or horsebox over 3.5 tonnes is a heavy goods vehicle in most zones, which turns a nine pound day into a hundred pound day. Bath drops a registered private heavy vehicle back to the light rate and Sheffield lets a campervan pay the light rate outright, so check the plated weight against the local rule rather than assuming.
Straight answers
Common questions
What is the difference between a ULEZ, a LEZ and a CAZ?
A ULEZ is London's emissions charge on cars, vans, minibuses and motorbikes. London's LEZ is a separate, older scheme that only ever applied to larger vans, lorries, buses and coaches. A CAZ is the English framework used outside London, and its class letter from A to D decides which vehicle types are charged, with only class D reaching private cars. All three let you pay and drive in. A Scottish LEZ does not.
Do Scottish low emission zones have a daily charge?
No. Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee have no daily charge for any vehicle. A vehicle that fails the standard is not permitted in the zone, so there is nothing to pay and no way to buy your way in. The first contravention is a £60 penalty, halved to £30 if you pay within 14 days, and it doubles for each further contravention by the same vehicle in the same zone within 90 days.
Which zones charge a private car?
Five of the fifteen. The London ULEZ and the Central London Congestion Charge, the two class D Clean Air Zones at Birmingham and Bristol, and the Oxford Zero Emission Zone pilot, which prices by carbon dioxide instead of by vehicle type. Four Scottish zones bar a non-compliant car rather than charging it, and in the remaining six a private car is outside the scheme whatever its age.
How do I know whether my car meets Euro 4 or Euro 6?
The Euro standard sits on the vehicle's type approval, not on its age, so judging by the year is what catches people out. A 2014 diesel is normally Euro 5 and pays, while a 2006 petrol can be Euro 4 and pays nothing. As a guide, a diesel car registered on or before 31 August 2015 will not meet Euro 6. Check the operator's own vehicle checker before relying on either.
Does one payment cover the whole day?
In a charging zone, yes. One daily charge covers as many entries and exits as you make that day, so a delivery round inside a zone costs one charge rather than one per trip. It does not cover a second scheme: a car driving into central London on a weekday can owe both the ULEZ charge and the Congestion Charge, because they are separate schemes with separate rules.
Where these figures come from
Sources for this page
- Clean Air ZonesGOV.UK, applies from 12 February 2026
- Check if you can drive a vehicle in a Low Emission Zonemygov.scot, applies from 26 June 2026
- Fines for Low Emission Zonesmygov.scot, applies from 26 June 2026
Every charge, standard, boundary and penalty on this page is taken from the operator that sets it. Each zone page lists that operator's own pages with the date each figure applies from, and links straight to the vehicle checker the operator runs, because their record is the one that decides whether you are charged.