The abbreviation 'UTM'

The abbreviation 'UTM' stands for Universal Transverse Mercator.

The UTM projections are a way of mapping the whole world in a systematic way by dividing the Earth by longitude into 60 zones, each 6 degrees of longitude wide. The 60 UTM zones each have a different central meridian. The zones relevant to British mapping are 29 (central meridian 9 degrees West), 30 (central meridian 3 degrees west and 31 (central meridian 3 degrees East). The scale on the central meridian is 0.9996 for all UTM zones. The international 1924 ellipsoid is usually used in the UTM projection in Europe but other ellipsoids can also be used.

Source: A Guide to Coordinate Systems in Great Britain. Free OS publication.

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