United Kingdom (Great Britain, England, Scotland, Wales, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, U.K., Northern Ireland) Mailing Address Formats and Other International Mailing Information

When mailing an envelope or postcard, leave at least the bottom 16 millimeters (5/8 inch) blank on both front and back. (The postal service's reading and sorting machines might need this space to print bar codes on your mail.)

Address Format Information

Royal Mail Guide to Preparing Mail - Addressing

Some oddities of the Royal Mail include:

• A preference for the return address to be on the back of the envelope.
• A Locality line that only some addresses have (between the street address and town/city.)
• The "full stops" you are requested not to use in an address are periods.

From the Royal Mail website (as of September 2009):

"What is a correct Postal Address?

Every house and business in the UK has a complete postal address that helps Royal Mail deliver mail quickly, accurately and cost effectively.
We've laid out below the elements that make up a postal address and those that are required for us to deliver mail.

Address	Is it Required?	Information
Mr A Smith	When applicable	Addressees Name
Acme Plc	When applicable	Company/Organisation
Acme House	Yes (except if it has a number)	Building Name
3 High Street	Yes	Number of building and name of thoroughfare
Hedle End	Yes but only if a similar road name exists within a Post Town area	Locality Name
SOUTHAMPTON	Yes	Post Town please print in capitals
SO31 4NG	Yes	Postcode please print in capitals

You do not need to include a County name provided the Post Town and Postcode are used."

The Royal Mail (British Postal Service) keeps reorganizing their website, but you might find addressing information here and/or here.

Address Format Examples

Nildram Systems

   Nildram Ltd         [recipient]
   Ardenham Court      [probably the building name: see Format Information.  Not all addresses have this part.]
   Oxford Road         [street name]
   AYLESBURY           [postal town (town/city)]
   BUCKINGHAMSHIRE     [county (not needed)]
   HP19 3EQ            [postal code]
   UNITED KINGDOM      [country name]
   

from the UPU:

   Mr. Walter C. Brown
   49 Featherstone Street
   LONDON
   EC1Y 8SY
   UNITED KINGDOM
   

Google ad(s) are sometimes shown above.

Postcode Search (find United Kingdom postcodes / postal codes = 'British zip codes')

Post Code Finder provides U.K. postcode search.

Address Validation, Verification, and/or Correction

Click on the "Find an Address" tab for a form that provides some free address validation help.

Limited number of free searches per day.

Postal Rates to or from the United Kingdom

Postage calculators and tables showing how much postage you need to mail or ship to and/or from the United Kingdom are at the International Postal Rates Page.

Finding Out Addresses (such as addresses in United Kingdom / United Kingdom address search)

See Finding An International Address / Address Search.