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United Kingdom · Drone test

UK drone height limit: 120m (400ft)

Your drone or model aircraft must never be more than 120m (400ft) from the closest point of the earth’s surface. The UK drone height limit applies to all flying in the Open Category, Near People (A2) included, and under a PDRA01 (pre-defined risk assessment) authorisation, and because it’s measured from the ground nearest the aircraft, you have to adjust as you fly over hills or cliffs. Model gliders and flights over very tall structures have their own rules.

  • 15mMost you can rise above a tall structure
  • 10kgHeaviest model glider with its own rule
  • Closest groundWhere the 120m is measured from
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Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

What is the UK drone height limit?

It’s 120m (400ft), and the Drone Code calls it a legal height limit. Keeping below it reduces the risk of meeting other aircraft, which normally fly higher. Some fly lower, so look and listen for air ambulances, police helicopters and low-flying military aircraft, and lower the drone or land if one appears.

Flying over hills, mountains and cliffs

The limit follows the ground, not your take-off point. If the ground falls away below you, for example off a cliff edge, the drone can end up more than 120m above it without climbing, so plan the route to stay within the limit. It also helps to know how to set your drone’s maximum height, which the Code lists among the functions to learn.

Exceptions to the 120m limit

  • Model gliders up to 10kg: the limit is 120m above the height you’re standing at, which allows for flying from hills.
  • Very tall structures over 105m: if the person or organisation responsible asks you to do a task related to the structure, such as survey photos, you can fly higher than 120m, but never more than 15m above it and within 50m of it horizontally.

These are points 38 and 39 of the Code, and they aren’t in the Flyer ID test. For any other height, you need an authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the Specific Category.

Specific Category authorisations →

Height and airport restriction zones

Staying under 120m doesn’t keep you out of an airport’s Flight Restriction Zone (FRZ): those zones reach far higher than any drone may fly, so you still need the site’s permission to fly inside one.

Airport zones and other no-fly zones →
Sources: CAA · legislation.gov.uk and 5 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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