List of British postal codes
The British postal system runs on a system of alphanumeric codes, or Postcodes. Normally the first two letters of the postcode denotes the main sorting office through which the post for that place is filtered before being distributed to individual addresses. The only exception to this rule is with postcodes in the inner London area (but this does not correspond completely to other definitions of iner London).It should also be noted that the postcodes, and also the full postal addresses, do not follow local government boundaries. The London postal district follows an area much smaller than the boundaries of the Greater London Authority and many areas in outer London have the more standard form of postcode. Some areas have their old county name, and not London, in the address - for example letters to the borough of Kingston-upon-Thames have Surrey in the address, not London, although attempts are being made to correct this. And confusing matters further some postcodes, such as KT4 for the Worcester Park area spread over county and even regional boundaries. These problems exist outside of London as well and there are many examples of people in rural villages having postal addresses that do not contain the village's name.
British Postcode Prefixes (including overseas posessions)
- AB - Aberdeen
- AL - St Albans
- B - Birmingham
- BA - Bath
- BB - Blackburn
- BD - Bradford
- BH - Bournemouth
- BI - British Antarctic Territory
- BL - Bolton
- BN - Brighton
- BR - Bromley
- BS - Bristol
- BT - Belfast
- CA - Carlisle
- CB - Cambridge
- CF - Cardiff
- CH - Chester
- CM - Chelmsford
- CO - Colchester
- CR - Croydon
- CT - Canterbury
- CV - Coventry
- CW - Crewe
- DA - Dartford
- DD - Dundee
- DE - Derby
- DG - Dumfries and Galloway
- DH - Durham
- DL - Darlington
- DN - Doncaster
- DT - Dorchester
- DY - Dudley
- E - East London
- EC - East Central London
- EH - Edinburgh
- EN - Enfield
- EX - Exeter
- FI - Falkland Islands
- FK - Falkirk
- FY - Blackpool (Fylde)
- G - Glasgow
- GL - Gloucester
- GR - Grimsby
- GU - Guildford
- GY - Guernsey
- HA - Harrow
- HD - Huddersfield
- HG - Harrogate
- HM - Hamilton, Bermuda
- HP - Hemel Hempstead
- HR - Hereford
- HS - Outer Hebrides
- HU - Kingston upon Hull
- HX - Halifax
- IG - Ilford
- IM - Isle of Man
- IP - Ipswich
- IV - Inverness
- JE - Jersey
- KA - Kilmarnock
- KT - Kingston-upon-Thames
- KW - Kirkwall
- KY - Kirkcaldy
- L - Liverpool
- LA - Lancaster
- LD - Llandrindod Wells
- LE - Leicester
- LL - Llandudno
- LN - Lincoln
- LS - Leeds
- LU - Luton
- M - Manchester
- ME - Medway Towns
- MK - Milton Keynes
- ML - Motherwell
- N - North London
- NE - Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- NG - Nottingham
- NN - Northampton
- NP - Newport
- NR - Norwich
- NW - North West London
- OL - Oldham
- OX - Oxford
- PA - Paisley
- PE - Peterborough
- PH - Perth
- PL - Plymouth
- PO - Portsmouth
- PR - Preston
- RG - Reading
- RH - Redhill
- RM - Romford
- S - Sheffield
- SA - Swansea
- SE - South East London
- SG - Stevenage
- SK - Stockport
- SL - Slough
- SM - Sutton
- SN - Swindon
- SO - Southampton
- SP - Salisbury
- SR - Sunderland
- SS - Southend on Sea
- ST - Stoke-on-Trent
- SW - South West London
- SY - Shrewsbury
- TA - Taunton
- TD - Galashiels (Tweed)
- TF - Telford
- TN - Tonbridge
- TQ - Torquay
- TR - Truro
- TS - Teesside
- TW - Twickenham
- UB - Uxbridge
- W - West London
- WA - Warrington
- WC - West Central London
- WD - Watford
- WF - Wakefield
- WN - Wigan
- WR - Worcester
- WS - Walsall
- WV - Wolverhampton
- YO - York
- ZE - Shetland (Zetland)
See Also
- UK topics
- Communications in the United Kingdom
- UK telephone area codes (STD codes)
- Lists of postal and zip codes of the world
