The astronomical unit is a unit of length and is used in the Astronomical system of units and denoted by the symbol au.
It represents the average distance between the Earth and the Sun which is approximately 150 million kilometres (or 93 million miles).
It's used mostly to express distances within our Solar System.
The metre (or meter; US spelling) is the SI base unit of length and uses the symbol m.
Originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole but was redefined in 1799 in terms of a prototyped metre bar (this bar was changed again in 1889).
In 1983 the current definition was adopted and it is now the most common unit in any property in the world and is used in thousands of formulae to describe countless characteristics.
Let's hear it for the metre!