M5 Southbound Traffic
If you are heading south on the M5 — towards Taunton, Exeter and the West Country — this page covers your side of the motorway. Traffic on a motorway is rarely the same in both directions, and neither is the news.
Heading the other way? See M5 northbound traffic »
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M5 northbound between J21 and J20
05:44 (5:44am)19 Sept 2026set 44 days ago⚠ 44 days old✓ Checked by us 23:52 (11:52pm)
Roadworks Speed Limit
Updated 23:52 (11:52pm) Sun 1 Nov 2026
Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds.
How busy is the M5 southbound?
The Department for Transport counts the M5 separately in each direction, at 45 southbound count points out of 90 directional counts in total. The busiest measured southbound stretch is J6 to J5, carrying 76,061 vehicles a day southbound on its own.
| Stretch (southbound) | Vehicles per day | Lorries |
|---|---|---|
| J6 to J5 | 76,061 | 7,284 |
| J1 to M5 split | 70,536 | 7,056 |
| J5 to M42 (4A) southern feeder | 65,385 | 6,775 |
| J21 to J20 | 61,602 | 3,521 |
| J2 to J1 | 60,841 | 5,505 |
| J7 to J6 | 59,904 | 6,730 |
| J20 to J19 | 54,967 | 4,161 |
| J10 to J9 | 50,851 | 5,414 |
| J31 to J30 | 50,018 | 2,918 |
| J30 to J29 | 49,701 | 3,042 |
| J12 to 11a | 49,666 | 5,016 |
| J24 to J23 | 49,585 | 2,873 |
© M5Traffic.co.uk · Statistics from the Department for Transport
These are one-direction figures. Some stretches carry more than one count point; where they do, the busiest measured point is shown. Figures are from the Department for Transport road traffic statistics, 2025. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.