Biggest Lottery Winners in the UK

The biggest lottery prize ever won in the UK was the £195.7 million EuroMillions jackpot that was put up for grabs on Tuesday 19th July 2022. It came after the top prize had reached its limit, which was €230 million at the time. It eclipsed the previous UK record, which was set just two months earlier in May 2022 by Joe and Jess Thwaite’s £184.2 million win.

Below are lists of other players who have received huge amounts after buying lucky tickets:

Lotto

David and Carol Martin from Hawick in the Scottish Borders split a £66 million jackpot with another anonymous ticket holder in January 2016. Each winning ticket was worth £33 million.
Gerry and Lisa Cannings from Peterborough were the sole winners of a £32.5 million jackpot just a month later in February 2016.
In June 1995, a single ticket scooped a £22.5 million jackpot. Business partners Mark Gardiner and Paul Maddison split the prize between them.
In July 2004, Iris Jeffrey from Belfast was the only winner of a £20 million Lotto jackpot.
In 1996, a £42 million Lotto jackpot – the biggest ever seen at the time – was split between three ticket holders, who each walked away with £14 million.

There is currently no Lotto jackpot cap in place. Instead, the jackpot can only roll over a maximum of five times before a 'Must Be Won' draw is held, in which the prize money is guaranteed to be given away. The jackpot was previously capped at £22 million, revised down from an initial £50 million cap. Prior to that, the jackpot was limited to four rollovers before it had to be won.

EuroMillions

Here are the top 10 UK winners in the game's history, as well as details on where they were from and whether they remained anonymous.

Date	Draw Number	Amount Won	Details
19th July 2022	1547	£195,707,000	This big win came just two months after the previous record was set. A Superdraw rollover on 17th June set the jackpot on its way to its €230 million cap. It stayed at its limit for three draws, before a UK player won to go straight to the top of the National Lottery’s rich list.
10th May 2022	1527	£184,262,899	The jackpot grew quickly all the way from its starting value to beyond £180 million, before Gloucester couple Joe and Jess Thwaite matched all the numbers with a Lucky Dip. They were revealed as the winners at a press event the next week.
23rd September 2022	1566	£171,815,297	The third big win of 2022 arrived a fortnight after September’s Superdraw, with the jackpot worth more than £171 million. The lucky winner staked their claim within 48 hours of the draw.
8th October 2019	1257	£170,221,000	One UK player matched the full winning line in a Must Be Won draw, which was held after the jackpot stayed at its €190 million cap for the maximum five draws. The winner chose to stay anonymous.
12th July 2011	397	£161,653,000	Colin and Chris Weir of Ayrshire held the record for the biggest ever UK lottery win for over eight years. They used their public profile to set up the Weir Charitable Trust, supporting projects across Scotland.
10th August 2012	510	£148,656,000	Adrian and Gillian Bayford won €190 million in a EuroMillions draw in August 2012, but due to the exchange rates at the time, they ended up with over £10 million less than the Weirs.
11th June 2019	1223	£123,458,008	An anonymous player jumped to third on the UK lottery rich list after winning a Superdraw jackpot that rolled over to the subsequent draw.
2nd April 2021	1412	£122,550,350	Nine rollovers took the jackpot from its starting value of £14 million to over £122 million before it was won by one anonymous ticket holder.
24th April 2018	1105	£121,328,187	An anonymous ticket holder won this nine-figure sum after a Superdraw jackpot rolled over to the following draw.
1st January 2019	1177	£114,969,775	Frances and Patrick Connolly from Moira in Northern Ireland purchased a single Lucky Dip online.

Syndicates

Many huge EuroMillions prizes have also been awarded to lottery syndicates in the UK. These players teamed up to win big:

A group of seven office workers in Merseyside got lucky on Friday 6th November 2009 when they split a jackpot of £91.1 million with another British player. The syndicate, who dubbed themselves 'The Magnificent Seven', took home a total of £45.5 million, with each member of the group receiving £6.5 million.
In March 2012, 12 bus drivers from Corby, Northamptonshire scooped a colossal £38 million on EuroMillions. Each sped away with a sensational £3.1 million.
A group of ten office workers in Kirkby, Merseyside picked up an incredible £28.8 million on Tuesday 9th July 2013. Each member became £2.8 million richer in the blink of an eye!

Biggest Win in 2022

The UK’s biggest win to date arrived on 19th July 2022, when a single ticket holder scooped £195 million. The jackpot had rolled over since a Superdraw on 17th June and was at its maximum amount, which was worth €230 million at the time. Joe and Jess Thwaite from Gloucester had previously held the record, having claimed a jackpot of £184 million in May 2022.

Publicity

One of the first decisions that you would face after winning a large lottery prize is whether to go public with the win. Although many winners in the past have announced their success publicly, you are under no obligation to do so. It has no effect on the prize money awarded, and the National Lottery is committed to offering the same level of support regardless of whether you decide to go public or not.

There are pros and cons each way. The media scrutiny and unwanted attention from strangers could add extra pressure if you go public, but you would also have the chance to celebrate your win without worrying about keeping it secret. Learn more on our Lottery Publicity page.

Tax

One of the perks of playing lotteries in the UK is that winnings are not subject to Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax, regardless of how much money you win. However, once you’ve deposited the winnings in your bank account, any money earned through interest is subject to Income Tax.

Upon winning a lottery jackpot, you might also want to share your fortune with friends and family, through gifts of cash or assets such as cars and houses. If you were to die within seven years of handing out gifts in excess of £325,000, they would be subject to an Inheritance Tax bill of up to 40%.

Inheritance Tax is charged on a sliding scale, and any gifts you give in the three years before you die will be subject to a 40% tax, which reduces to 8% for gifts handed out between 6 and 7 years before your death. See the table below for a full breakdown of the Inheritance Tax brackets, but remember, this only applies if you gift in excess of £325,000.

Years between gift and death	Tax paid
Less than 3	40%
3 to 4	32%
4 to 5	24%
5 to 6	16%
6 to 7	8%
More than 7	0%

You can give away £3,000 worth of gifts every year without them becoming subject to Inheritance Tax – this is your ‘annual exemption’ – and you can even carry this exemption over for one year (but no more) to gift up to £6,000 without it becoming part of your estate. Inheritance Tax does not apply to gifts shared between spouses or civil partners, meaning you could give your entire estate to your spouse without it being subject to Inheritance Tax. Some small gifts, such as Christmas and birthday presents, or those that you can afford out of your normal income, are also exempt.

To avoid complications in the event of your death, it is a good idea to keep detailed records of any gifts you give to friends and family, so that they don’t unduly receive a hefty Inheritance Tax bill.