Leeds Skelton Lake Services (M1 J45)
Leeds Skelton Lake sits at Junction 45, and it is the last service area on the M1 — there is nothing between here and the end of the motorway at Junction 48. It is run by Extra, cost £64 million, and opened in 2020.
A nature reserve with a service area attached
It is built on and beside a restored 60-acre former opencast coal lake, next to the RSPB’s St Aidan’s reserve, and is billed as the greenest motorway service station in the UK. There is an RSPB wildlife visitor centre with a raised bird-viewing platform over the lake, believed to be unique among British service areas. The roof is a living green meadow on twelve curved timber ribbons, chosen to cut steel use, and the site is future-proofed for hydrogen. It is one site, reachable from both carriageways and from the A63 into Leeds.
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Latest accident or incident on the M1
The most recent accident or incident on the M1 that we are aware of.
Latest active roadworks on the M1
Roadworks live on the M1 right now.
Hard shoulder closure southbound
06:4914 Sept 2026reported 7 min ago
- Location
- M1 southbound between J22 and J21A
- Direction
- Southbound
- Lanes closed
- Hard shoulder closed
- Reason
- Maintenance work
- Schedule
- 09:00 Sun 30 Nov 2025 → 09:00 Mon 30 Nov 2026
+ 1 more active roadworks - search all M1 traffic news →
Latest planned roadworks on the M1
The next planned roadworks scheduled on the M1.
M1 Southbound Jct 6 to Jct 5 Exit Slip road Lane 3,2 closure
06:5014 Sept 2026reported 7 min ago
- Location
- M1 southbound between J6 and J5
- Direction
- Southbound
- Lanes closed
- Slip road closed
- Reason
- Roadworks
- Schedule
- 22:00 Mon 14 Sept 2026 → 05:30 Tue 15 Sept 2026
Forecast - not confirmed
+ 22 more planned roadworks - search all M1 traffic news →
Search all the latest M1 traffic news →
Updated 06:57 Mon 14 Sept 2026
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What is at Leeds Skelton Lake Services
- Food and drink: McDonald’s, KFC, Nando’s, Starbucks, Greggs, Chopstix, German Doner Kebab, Benito’s, M&S
- Shops: SPAR on the forecourt, WHSmith, Top Gift and an RSPB shop
- Fuel and charging: a 24-hour Texaco forecourt; IONITY ultra-rapid charging, sixteen to eighteen bays rated 350–400kW, no membership needed
- Hotel: Ramada by Wyndham Leeds East, on site
- Parking: 535 car, 55 HGV, 12 coach, 12 caravan or motorhome, 10 motorcycle and 8 parent-and-child spaces
Parking here is free for three hours rather than the usual two, then charged by length of stay.
Service area details are compiled from the operators’ own published information and were last checked on 14 September 2026. Facilities change — if something here is out of date, please tell us and we will correct it.
The traffic around Leeds Skelton Lake Services
The services sit on the stretch between Junction 44 and Junction 45, which the Department for Transport counts at 112,119 vehicles a day — the 24th busiest of the 42 measured stretches of M1 mainline. Of those, 10,510 are lorries, 9.4% of the traffic. Walking routes link the services to Skelton Country Park. It opened in phases through the first Covid lockdown — the forecourt in March 2020, the main building that July and the hotel in September.
Traffic figures are Department for Transport road traffic statistics, annual average daily flow for 2025, both directions combined.