UK noise map: where to see road and rail noise

Is there a UK noise map?

There is no single map covering the whole of the UK. Each nation publishes its own official noise maps: Defra for England, the Welsh Government for Wales, SEPA's noise map for Scotland and DAERA's noise map viewer for Northern Ireland. They are free to use, and they are the sensible first stop if you want to know how noisy an area is.

All of them are modelled, not measured. They are designed to show the broad pattern of road, rail and (in some cases) airport noise across a whole country, which is a different job from telling you what it sounds like in one garden or bedroom.

Where is the free noise map for England?

In England the official maps are Defra's strategic noise maps. The latest set, often called the 2022 maps or round 4, was published in October 2024 and gives a snapshot of the estimated noise from road and rail sources across England in 2021.

Defra publishes them as open data, with downloads and web map services, rather than as a single app. The place to start is the GOV.UK page "Strategic noise mapping (2022)", which links to the road, rail and urban-area datasets on the Defra Data Services Platform. Because the data is open, it can also be opened in mapping software and in viewers that load it. For a step-by-step, see our guide to reading a Defra noise map.

What do the road and rail noise maps show?

They show modelled noise levels in decibels, with road noise and rail noise published as separate layers, so you can look at each on its own. In the latest round Defra's model took account of all public roads and railways in England, including light rail. In earlier rounds only major roads, major railways and large urban areas were mapped, so older maps and older articles may show less.

Airports are handled separately. Defra says responsibility for airport noise lies with the airport operators, and the airport dataset it publishes covers the airports the regulations require.

What do Lden and Lnight on a noise map mean?

Most of the maps use two measures. Lden is an annual average over 24 hours, with a 5 decibel penalty added to evening noise (7pm to 11pm) and a 10 decibel penalty added to night noise (11pm to 7am), so it reflects how noise is more disturbing later in the day. Lnight is the annual average over the night period, 11pm to 7am, and it is the one to check if sleep matters to you.

Our guide to Lden and Lnight explains how to read the two together.

What can't a noise map tell you?

It helps to know the limits before you rely on a colour. No actual noise measurements were taken to make Defra's maps. Defra describes them as useful for helping authorities identify priority areas, but not necessarily an exact picture of the situation at any particular place.

The levels are calculated on a 10 metre grid at a height of 4 metres above ground. That is roughly the height of a first-floor window, so the figure is not a reading for your garden or a ground-floor room. The maps are also an annual average for one year, so they will not show a road that has changed since 2021, or the noise of individual events such as a single lorry.

And a blank is not a guarantee of silence. Levels below 40 dB (35 dB for Lnight) are not mapped, so an area with no colour is simply quieter than the lowest level shown.

Are there noise maps for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Yes, but they are published separately, so check the one for the nation you are interested in. Defra's maps cover England only.

In Wales, the Welsh Government's 2022 strategic noise maps are on DataMapWales. They show road, railway and industrial noise as Lden, Lnight and a daytime average, cover all roads and railways in Wales, and, like the English maps, are calculated at a height of 4 metres.

In Scotland, SEPA hosts an online noise map at noise.environment.gov.scot. The round 4 data includes major and non-major roads and railways, noise from four airports, and industry in the main urban areas.

In Northern Ireland, DAERA publishes noise maps for major roads, major railways, major airports and larger urban areas, with a separate viewer for the round 4 maps. DAERA notes that round 4 is not directly comparable with earlier rounds.

The nations do not all map the same things, so a quiet-looking area on one nation's map is not strictly comparable with the same shading on another's.

More detail on each nation's map: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Is there a road noise map for the UK that I can search by address?

The nearest thing is the road layer of each nation's official map. It shows the level for an area, not a result for your address, and how easily you can find your street depends on the viewer you use. If you are looking at a rail or airport layer instead, remember each is published separately.

If the map shows your property in a noisy band, it is worth taking seriously. If it shows no colour, it tells you that the modelled level is below the lowest the map records, which is not the same as knowing what it is like to live there.

When does an address-level noise report help?

A national map is a good first look. An address-level report helps when the question is about one particular home: when your property sits near the edge of a band, when the garden or a ground-floor room matters more than a first-floor window, when you are comparing two houses, or when you are deciding whether a fence or better glazing would be worth the money.

AcoustaPLOT's address check, Is this address noisy?, calculates the road noise at a specific address from Department for Transport traffic data and Ordnance Survey terrain, reads Defra's railway map where it covers the address, and gives a plain-English risk rating with an uncertainty range, including both Lden and Lnight. It currently covers addresses in England only.

Like the official maps it is modelled, not measured, and it should not be the only evidence in a planning application or a dispute. Where an exact measured level matters, a site-measured acoustic survey is the right next step.

How to use a noise map when you are buying

Look at the night-time view as well as the daytime one, and treat the map as the start of your checks rather than the end. A single quiet viewing tells you little, so visit at different times of day, and ask the seller what has been done about noise. Our guide to buying a house near a motorway or busy road sets out a fuller checklist.