Aerial view of the M5 motorway crossing a river

M5 Traffic News

0Accidentsnone in National Highways’ incident data — but the overhead signs show M5 J23-J24 CLOSED — see the signs3Roadworks activelive on the M5 right now — see details4Plannedscheduled on the M5 — see details

Live M5 traffic data from National Highways · updated 23:52 (11:52pm) Sun 1 Nov 2026

M5

Latest M5 Traffic News & M5 Traffic Reports

Live M5 traffic news and reports: current incidents, road closures, lane closures and planned roadworks on the M5 motorway, updated throughout the day.

Our "All News" or "Latest M5 Traffic News" page is here to help you find and filter live M5 traffic news and reports that could affect your journey now or today. We also feature active and planned roadworks so you can filter to find that news too. You can search our traffic news by direction as well using the "Direction" dropdown filter.

Our traffic news is updated at least every 5 minutes every day of the year, throughout the day and night. Your journey might only be in one direction between two junctions and you can filter our M5 traffic news that way. There are other hints and tips for using our All News search and filter page after the latest news updates and reports below.

8 matching items - showing 1-8 of 8 total available news items

  • M4 westbound Jct 20 exit slip road to M5 northbound Jct 15 - carriageway closed

    Active nowRoadworksNorthbound Road closed
    Time now: Sunday, 1 November 2026, 23:52 (11:52pm)

    23:36 (11:36pm)1 Nov 2026reported 15 min ago

    Location
    link road from M4 westbound J20 to M5 J15 northbound
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Carriageway closed
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    21:41 (9:41pm) Sun 11 Oct 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Sat 5 Dec 2026
    ⏳Long-term works - HA planned end: 06:00 (6am) Sat 5 Dec 2026.
  • M5 northbound Jct 10 to 9 - hardshoulder closure (78/2 to 76/6)

    Active nowUpdateNorthbound
    Time now: Sunday, 1 November 2026, 23:52 (11:52pm)

    23:36 (11:36pm)1 Nov 2026reported 15 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J10 and J9
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Hard shoulder closed
    Reason
    Other
    Schedule
    07:52 (7:52am) Mon 5 Oct 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Sat 19 Dec 2026
    ⏳Long-term works - HA planned end: 06:00 (6am) Sat 19 Dec 2026.
  • M5 northbound Jct 22 to Jct 21 narrow lanes (166/3 to 161/9)

    Active nowRoadworksNorthbound
    Time now: Sunday, 1 November 2026, 23:52 (11:52pm)

    23:36 (11:36pm)1 Nov 2026reported 15 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J21 and J20
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Restriction · Width restriction
    Reason
    Road improvement or upgrading
    Schedule
    05:44 (5:44am) Sat 19 Sept 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Sat 3 Nov 2029
    ⏳Long-term works - HA planned end: 06:00 (6am) Sat 3 Nov 2029.
  • M5 northbound between J21 and J20

    In force now50 mph limitNorthboundBetween J21 & J20
    Time now: Sunday, 1 November 2026, 23:52 (11:52pm)

    05:44 (5:44am)19 Sept 2026set 44 days ago⚠ 44 days old✓ Checked by us 23:52 (11:52pm)

    WhereM5 northbound, Between J21 & J20 · on 1 signal
    WhyM5 both directions Jct 20 to Jct 22 50MPH speed restriction (167/0 to 161/2)
    Also atM5 northbound between J22 and J21; M5 northbound within J21
    SinceSet 05:44 (5:44am) Sat 19 Sept 2026
    We check these speed signals at least every five minutes. A number in a red ring is a mandatory speed limit. Always follow the speed shown on the signs you can see on the road.
  • M5 northbound Jct 10 to 9 - hardshoulder closure (78/2 to 77/3)

    PlannedUpdateNorthbound
    Time now: Sunday, 1 November 2026, 23:52 (11:52pm)

    23:36 (11:36pm)1 Nov 2026reported 15 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J10 and J9
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Hard shoulder closed
    Reason
    Other
    Schedule
    06:00 (6am) Mon 5 Oct 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Sat 19 Dec 2026

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 06:00 (6am) Mon 5 Oct 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Sat 19 Dec 2026 underway until 06:00 (6am) Sat 19 Dec 2026
  • M5 northbound Jct 22 to Jct 21 narrow lanes (166/3 to 161/9)

    PlannedRoadworksNorthbound
    Time now: Sunday, 1 November 2026, 23:52 (11:52pm)

    23:36 (11:36pm)1 Nov 2026reported 15 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J22 and J21
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Restriction · Width restriction
    Reason
    Road improvement or upgrading
    Schedule
    06:00 (6am) Tue 22 Sept 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Sat 3 Nov 2029

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 06:00 (6am) Tue 22 Sept 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Sat 3 Nov 2029 underway until 06:00 (6am) Sat 3 Nov 2029
  • M5 northbound Jct 24 to 23 carriageway closure

    PlannedRoadworksNorthbound Road closed
    Time now: Sunday, 1 November 2026, 23:52 (11:52pm)

    23:36 (11:36pm)1 Nov 2026reported 15 min ago

    Location
    roundabout at M5 J24/A38
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Carriageway closed
    Reason
    Construction work
    Schedule
    20:30 (8:30pm) Sun 1 Nov 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Mon 2 Nov 2026

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 20:30 (8:30pm) Sun 1 Nov 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Mon 2 Nov 2026 underway until 06:00 (6am) Mon 2 Nov 2026
  • M5 northbound lane 2/3 closure

    PlannedRoadworksNorthbound
    Time now: Sunday, 1 November 2026, 23:52 (11:52pm)

    23:36 (11:36pm)1 Nov 2026reported 15 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J25 and J24
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Construction work
    Schedule
    20:00 (8pm) Sun 1 Nov 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Mon 2 Nov 2026

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 20:00 (8pm) Sun 1 Nov 2026 → 06:00 (6am) Mon 2 Nov 2026 underway until 06:00 (6am) Mon 2 Nov 2026
  • Updated 23:52 (11:52pm) Sun 1 Nov 2026

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    We have made every effort to display traffic news in a way that is quick and clear to read. Our approach is user-focused. We always think "if I was a new visitor or user of our site or seeing our site for the first time, do all the key facts and information stand out clearly?" We hope that is the experience you have and we regularly review and consider the way our website, layout and the way we display the news to improve that.

    The traffic or road information is shown in colour-coded news items. Traffic delays, closures, roadworks for example have the motorway blue title bar at the top. The word active is often in red as a warning it is current if it is a new item that we thought could more seriously impact, directional wording has their own colour that sort of thing. The goal is to be as self-explanatory as possible.

    Speed signs on the overhead gantries on a motorway are a circle with a red boundary and the speed shown in white text. So our design layout is designed to match what you are used to seeing on the motorways. We now feature the speed signs across our growing network of motorway websites and our all England “Traffic News England” site where you can find all motorways and major A roads news.

    Also on the overhead gantries, National Highways often show messages, and our “Overhead Messages” page features those messages in case they help you plan or consider your motorway journey.

    Our traffic news or other news comes from authoritative sources such as National Highways but we know, from experience of driving the roads ourselves, that not every accident or incident, delay or traffic jam gets reported or spotted or is cleared quickly and does not get listed. We do review the site and the news presented here to ensure accuracy as much as we can, but cannot guarantee every accident, incident, delay or traffic jam is featured.

    Every effort is made to feature current M5 traffic news, the M5 traffic news, updates and reports that affect your M5 journey now or that you are planning today or tonight. The news is updated and refreshed at least every 5 minutes.

    We travel, and family members or friends, travel regularly travel on the M5 motorway and our goal for all M5 users is that the M5 Traffic website is a useful tool to help make journeys smoother, quicker and more trouble-free.

    We want you to have a safe, smooth and trouble-free journey on the M5 motorway. Keeping a safe braking distance and a reasonable gap between you and the car in front all help to keep you, your passengers and other M5 users safe. Extra care in wet or poor weather conditions also helps to keep all M5 users safe and avoid unnecessary accidents or incidents. Tailgating increases the risk of serious to fatal accidents or crashes so surely getting there is more important than the risk of not getting there at all.

    So, whether you are a commuter, lorry driver, taxi driver, motorcyclist, van or delivery driver, or just heading up or down the M5 for a lovely weekend break or holiday, we hope our M5 traffic news and updates, and especially this All News search and filter page, helps make your M5 motorway journey quicker, smoother and better.

    If you are looking for service stations or places to stop and eat, we have pages for those.

    If you are looking for other motorway or major A road traffic news and updates, our Traffic News England site features all the latest traffic news and updates for England.

    M5traffic.co.uk is dedicated to the latest M5 traffic news, checked every five minutes, 24 hours a day. The M5 meets the M4 at the Almondsbury Interchange near Bristol — see M4 Traffic for the M4, and Traffic News England for traffic news across all of England.