What was claimed
ULEZ, LEZ and congestion charges are dropped on Christmas day.
Our verdict
ULEZ and the Congestion Charge don’t operate on Christmas Day but LEZ does.
London’s Low Emission Zone does operate on Christmas day
12 December 2023
A post on Facebook claims: “Just read on my news feed that all ULEZ, LEZ and C charges are dropped for Xmas day!”
This is only partially true. London’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) does operate on Christmas Day, contrary to what the post claims.
ULEZ, the Ultra Low Emission Zone, does not operate on Christmas Day.
The post appears to be referring to the Congestion Charge when it says “C charges”. It is also correct about this, as that doesn’t operate between Christmas Day and the New Year’s Day bank holiday.
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What’s the difference between ULEZ and LEZ?
The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) are two separate traffic schemes, both of which are currently operational in London. They cover different, though largely overlapping, areas, and apply to different types of vehicle.
The LEZ primarily concerns heavier vehicles, like HGVs and coaches, and costs drivers between £100 and £300 per day depending on the type of vehicle. Transport for London says the LEZ was set up to “encourage the most polluting heavy diesel vehicles driving in the Capital to become cleaner.”
It is operational 24 hours a day, all year round and does not affect cars or motorcycles.
The ULEZ applies mainly to older cars and motorcycles, as well as lighter vans and minibuses, that don’t conform to specific emissions standards. The ULEZ charge is £12.50 per day for liable vehicles. It operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year, except 25 December.
In addition, a separate £15 Congestion Charge zone operates in central London, and applies to non-exempt vehicles that drive in the zone during specific hours. It operates 7am to 6pm Mondays to Fridays and 12pm to 6pm on weekends and bank holidays. There is no Congestion Charge in the period between Christmas Day and the New Year’s Day bank holiday, including those days.
We’ve written several articles about ULEZ, including one about the Daily Mail conflating ULEZ and LEZ, another on false claims that trips to places of worship are exempt from ULEZ and an image of an upside down number plate falsely claiming it showed a “ULEZ loophole”.
Image courtesy of Matt Brown
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as partly false because the Low Emission Zone is operational on Christmas Day.