England's M25 Becomes Europe's Most Digitally Mapped Motorway

National Highways has completed 3D drone mapping of all 120 miles of the M25, creating what it terms a "digital twin"—a persistent, updateable spatial model integrated into maintenance and incident response. The comprehensive digitisation removes road workers from live traffic during inspections. The agency now plans to scale the programme across its 4,800-mile network, supported by a new flight management system and supplier guidelines designed ahead of anticipated regulatory shifts around autonomous flight corridors.