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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 20/09/2026

Across three lectures, Jim Al-Khalili will explore: • Why measuring time on the Moon is a problem • If time has a direction • Why there’s no such thing as ‘now’ • And even if time really exists at all. Jim's latest book, On Time, was published earlier this month. www.rigb.org/christmas-le...

On Time: The Physics That Makes the Universe Tick by Jim Al-Khalili

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 20/09/2026

We are proud to announce that UKMA patron, Professor Jim Al-Khalili will be presenting this year's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures - on the awe-inspiring physics of time. @jimalkhalili.bsky.social @rigb.org #XmasLectures metricviews.uk/2026/09/20/u...

Professor Jim Al-Khalili will tackle the awe-inspiring science of time in the 2026 CHRISTMAS LECTURES® from the Royal Institution

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 30/08/2026

8 days after this letter, the Ministry of Transport announced that speed limits would be going metric in 1973. The Daily Telegraph - 6 March 1969

SPEED LIMIT GOES METRIC IN 1973

By COLIN DRYDEN
Motoring Staff

THE introduction of metric speed limits in 1973 and the possibilty of speed penalties for speeding were mentioned by Mr. Marsh, Minister of Transport, in the Commons yesterday.

The overall speed limit is to stay at 70 mph and 30 mph in towns, but the 70 limit may be raised to 120 kilometres per hour or 75 mph, when the metric system is adopted. This depended on driving behaviour "improving", said Mr. Marsh.

There wil be more 50 mph areas and some experimental 60 mph limits on rural main roads with bad accident records.

On the change to the metric system, Mr. Marsh said: "The lower end of the scale will be 50, 65 and 80 kph - or 31, 40 and 49 mph - and the experimental lengths of 60 mph will become 100 kph. If we can get a much needed improvement in driving behaviour I should like to raise the 70 mph limit to 120 kph.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 30/08/2026

As far back as 1969, teachers were already concerned that pupils were being taught exclusively in metric but that road signs were still in imperial. Check out our latest blog article: metricviews.uk/2026/08/29/r...

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 06/08/2026

BBC: "the size of a five-storey building and weighs approximately 4,000 kg (630st) on Earth". "630st" - stone age measurement units for space age technology is not a good idea. #MoonCrash #BBC

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 19/07/2026

It's unusual for the BBC to omit the size in acres in a story like this. Take your pick though, for how big a BBC "standard" football pitch is:

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 24/06/2026

Your students may have seen an in-cab height notice. Vehicles higher than 3 m are required to display a notice with their height in feet and inches. The imperial units are a hangover from the failure of successive governments to convert road signs to metric. www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/53...

An in-cab height indicator - set to show 13' 5"

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 14/06/2026

"... smaller than the Isle of Man, Curacao have surpassed Iceland as the smallest nation to reach a World Cup" www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba... Yes, but 171 sqm? (square metres?) #BBCWorldCup BBC style guide: "no acceptable abbreviation for "miles", so write sq miles" www.bbc.co.uk/newsstylegui...

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 22/05/2026

... and, as per this width restriction sign, 6.88 feet is not 6'88". Definitely time to ditch the imperial conversions. #metric #metrication www.facebook.com/groups/autos...

2.1 metre width restriction road sign, with imperial conversion of 6.88 feet shown as 6 feet and 88 inches.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 20/05/2026

Happy World Metrology Day 2026. Celebrating 151 years since the signing of the Metre Convention. #metrication #metricsystem www.bipm.org/en/-/2025-05...

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 12/05/2026

Road sign designs that were ahead of their time - Happy 90th birthday to Margaret Calvert. It's unfortunate though, that the international symbol for metres (m) is still being used as an abbreviation for miles. #metrication #metricsystem

Three contemporary road signs - all using the internationally understood symbol "m", but with one sign (Services 20 m) using "m" to mean miles, rather than its standard use as the symbol for metres.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 05/05/2026

It's not widely known that speed limits were originally scheduled to go metric in 1973. Around 1969-1970, it would have made sense, on private roads, to want to avoid installing signs (mph speed limits) that were about to become obsolete. #metrication

Daily Telegraph - 6 March 1969

SPEED LIMIT GOES METRIC IN 1973

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 04/05/2026

Dual unit signs have been in use since 1981. When money went decimal, dual unit prices lasted only a week or two. Why have we had dual units on bridge signs for 45 years?

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 02/05/2026

Understanding weights requires specialist knowledge now? "The shoes weigh just 97 grams ... but it's hard to know what that is in layman's terms" #metricsystem #BBC #HIGNFY #LondonMarathon www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Screenshots with subtitles from Episode 5 of Series 71 of Have I Got News For You, first broadcast on 1 May 2026.

They show the world-record-breaking shoes used in the 2026 London Marathon. The panel are told that their 97-gram weight is difficult for the layman to understand, and so have to guess whether they weigh more or less than a kiwi.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 29/04/2026

There is also a potential legal issue with dual unit signs. Depending on the sign, it is possible for a vehicle to be compliant with the metric restriction but not the imperial one, and vice versa. metrication.uk/transport/ro...

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 26/03/2026

50 years ago, the BBC's Inter-divisional Metrication Committee published "Metrication – A Producer’s Guide". Our latest blog article: What role did the BBC play in the UK’s transition to the metric system in the 1970s? #BBC #metrication #metric metricviews.uk/2026/03/26/w...

"Metrication – A Producer’s Guide"

A 68-page booklet published by the BBC Inter-divisional Metrication Committee in October 1976.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 16/01/2026

These are screen grabs of what we see as we scroll down the webpage after selecting km/h for wind speed units:

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 01/01/2026

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the end of the traditional ale pint 🍺. Imperial measures led to a reduction in the size of a #pint of #beer, from about 578 ml to about 568 ml. #metric #metrication #OTD Our latest blog article: The end of the traditional pint metricviews.uk/2026/01/01/t...

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 30/12/2025

Lib Dems block ability of Minister to allow metric measures for draught beer metricviews.uk/2025/04/04/l...

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 19/12/2025

The finalists' words both had eight letters. But they missed a nine-letter word, worth 18 points. As we like to say - It always pays to #ThinkMetric 📺 🔠 ⏲️ #countdown #grandfinal #channel4 #decalitre www.channel4.com/programmes/c...

Countdown - Series 92 Grand Final - first shown 19 December 2025.

DECALITRE was the best word in this round.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 12/12/2025

A bad day at the office for U.N.I.T.'s science team? • They mistake a latitude of "0.1667° S" as being NORTH of the Equator. • They've seemingly never heard of METRES. • The scales on their dual-unit pressure meter don't align. #TheWarBetween #DoctorWho #metric metricviews.uk/2025/12/12/i...

Four images from Episode 2 of the mini-series "The War Between the Land and the Sea".

1. The kPa and psi scales on U.N.I.T.'s pressure meter don't align. The pressures shown on each scale don't correspond.

2. A latitude of "0.1667° S" is mistaken as being "North of the Equator".

3. U.N.I.T.'s scientific advisers are puzzled by a depth coordinate given in metres. "What's m?", one of them asks.

4. The Sea Devil named Salt explains that it is "Your metric unit for length and depth".

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 09/12/2025

#OTD On this day 55 years ago, the Government postponed the introduction of #metric speed limits 🚗, previously scheduled for 1973. #metrication #metricsystem Our latest blog article: Metric speed limits – 55 years of dilly-dallying metricviews.uk/2025/12/09/m...

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

PRESS NOTICE

9 December 1970

NO SPEED LIMIT METRICATION

Speed limits on Britain's roads are not to be metricated in 1973, as had been planned by the previous administration, and the Government has no alternative date in mind.

This was announced today by Mr John Peyton, Minister for Transport Industries, answering a Question in the House of Commons.

Mr Kenneth Warren MP asked for an estimate of the cost involved in alterations to vehicles and road signs of all kinds if metric distances and speed measurements were introduced in this country.

Mr Peyton replied: "Nearly £2m for speed limit signs: the Government have, however, decided that speed limits will not be made metric in 1973 and have no alternative date in mind."

In March 1969, Mr Richard Marsh, then Minister of Transport, in a statement on speed limit policy in Parliament, announced that, subject to further consultation, speed limits would be metricated in 1973. This was in the context of the former administration's intention to metricate the economy by 1975. Following this announcement, planning took place with local authorities on the best way to implement the change; but no new speed limit signs in metric terms have yet been put up. The metrication of other road signs to show distances, dimensions etc in metric terms had not yet reached the planning stage.

The question of speeds and distances being expressed in metric terms will be considered again when it is seen to what extent metrication as a whole is accepted by the public, but this will not be for some years.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 15/11/2025

The contestants' words both had five letters. But the best word had six. It pays to #ThinkMetric 📺 🔠 ⏲️ #countdown #channel4 www.channel4.com/programmes/c...

Countdown - first shown 14 November 2025 on Channel 4.

METRIC was the best word in this round.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 12/11/2025

For a TV show @qi.com in 2025 to be using #inches to measure a wavelength in the millimetre-to-metre range is #QuiteInteresting. FUN FACT: Since the first UK radio stations began broadcasting in the 1920s, wavelengths have been given in #metres. #metricsystem #SI #QI www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Screenshots with subtitles from Episode 4 of Series W of QI, first broadcast on 11 November 2025.

They show a complete jumble of measurements units being used, with a wavelength in the millimetre-to-metre range being described using using inches.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 07/11/2025

The roadworks signs say yards, but the actual distances are in metres.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 05/10/2025

This can still happen though, as the pressure for England to reduce urban speed limits is not going away. #Metric speed limits also have the added benefit that they provide highway authorities with a greater range of available speed limits to choose from.

A diagram showing speed limit signs lower than 30 mph.

Imperial : 20 mph
Metric : 40 km/h, 30 km/h, 20 km/h

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 04/09/2025

A taste of metric road signs in the UK 🇬🇧 today, with km in MK. Milton Keynes saw the start of stage 3 of the all #metric 🚴 #TourOfBritain 2025.

Four images of the TV coverage of Stage 3 of the men's Tour of Britain 2025.

One shows the start in Milton Keynes, and the other 3 show various race signs. Each giving distance in kilometres.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 20/07/2025

#OTD 56 years ago, 👨‍🚀 man first landed on the Moon 🌑 MYTH: NASA didn't use the #metric system to go to the Moon FACT: The Lunar Module’s onboard Apollo Guidance Computer used SI units during the computer-controlled phases of the craft’s descent to the Moon ukma.org.uk/why-metric/m... #mythbusted

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 14/06/2025

There are plenty of reasons for upgrading road signs to metric, especially in Wales ... #metricsystem #metric metrication.uk/transport/ro...

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 20/05/2025

Our latest blog article: Happy 150th anniversary to the Metre Convention metricviews.uk/2025/05/20/h...

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 15/05/2025

This Cambridge University team included alumni who were over 60 at the time, and even they didn't know a key fact about the #Fahrenheit scale, when quizzed about it back in 2018.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 15/05/2025

The @metoffice.bsky.social switched to degrees #Celsius for all #weather reports 63 years ago, yet some TV forecasts 🌦️ still give temperatures in #Fahrenheit. In contrast, Australia and Canada both managed the change in one day: 🇦🇺 1972-09-01, 🇨🇦 1975-04-01. #metrication #metricsystem #bbc

How it started ...
1960s - All visuals in degrees Celsius. Fahrenheit begins to be phased out.

How it's going ...
2025 - Still giving conversions in Fahrenheit.

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 04/04/2025

The Liberal Democrats @libdems.org.uk have become the latest political party to join the populist "save the pint" 🍺 bandwagon. Our latest blog post : Lib Dems block ability of Minister to allow metric measures for draught beer metricviews.uk/2025/04/04/l...

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UK Metric Association @ukma.org.uk · 06/03/2025

"It's only 15C for chrissakes ... 59F in old money!" What's with the old money temperatures @dailystar.co.uk ? Will we be seeing the Star priced at one guinea and two tanners next? 😀

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