Aerial view of the M5 motorway crossing a river

M5 Traffic News

2Accidentsreported on the M5 — see details4Roadworks activelive on the M5 right now — see details11Plannedscheduled on the M5 — see details

Live M5 traffic data from National Highways · updated 23:57 Wed 16 Sept 2026

M5

M5 Roadworks

The roadworks information on M5 Traffic is updated and refreshed at least every 5 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

The heart sinks when you see that long line of orange cones, cars bunching and slowing down as they try to filter into fewer lanes. The purpose of our M5 roadworks page is to provide the latest official roadworks news and updates about where current roadworks are taking place, as well as planned roadworks.

You can filter M5 roadworks to plan your journey and try to avoid the roadworks where you can. You can filter roadworks by direction and between the junctions your drive along the M5 will take you, all to help you find the roadworks that are relevant to your route.

Roadworks fall into a number of categories. There are full, partial or lane closures on the main carriageway, hard shoulder maintenance and repairs, central barrier repairs, and repairs and maintenance to slip roads. The search term "clo" will find most of them, and you can filter for roadworks active now or planned roadworks.

15 matching items - showing 1-10 of 15 total available news items

  • M5 both directions Jct 27 to Jct 26 - HS & lane 1 & 2closure

    Active nowRoadworksBoth directions
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound within J26
    Direction
    Both directions
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    20:45 Wed 16 Sept 2026 → 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
    Expected to clear in ~6h 02m HA planned end: 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
  • M5 northbound Jct 26 to Jct 25 - lane closure 213/2-209/2

    Active nowRoadworksNorthbound
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J26 and J25
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Roadworks
    Schedule
    20:02 Wed 16 Sept 2026 → 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
    Expected to clear in ~6h 02m HA planned end: 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
  • M5 southbound Jct 20 to Jct 21 single lane running (160/4 to 167/4)

    Active nowRoadworksSouthbound
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 southbound between J21 and J22
    Direction
    Southbound
    Lanes closed
    Restriction
    Reason
    Road improvement or upgrading
    Schedule
    21:00 Wed 16 Sept 2026 → 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
    Expected to clear in ~6h 02m HA planned end: 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
  • Hardshoulder closure

    Active nowRoadworksNorthbound
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J21 and J20
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Hard shoulder closed
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    06:00 Tue 31 Dec 2024 → 06:00 Sat 19 Sept 2026
    Expected to clear in ~2d 6h HA planned end: 06:00 Sat 19 Sept 2026
  • M5 Northbound Jct 31 to 30 lane 1, 2 closure 259/6b - 256/8b

    PlannedRoadworksNorthbound
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J31 and J30
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Construction work
    Schedule
    20:00 Wed 16 Sept 2026 → 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 20:00 Wed 16 Sept 202606:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026 underway until 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
  • M5 northbound Jct 22 to Jct 21 single lane running (167/4 to 161/4)

    PlannedRoadworksNorthbound
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J22 and J21
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Restriction
    Reason
    Road improvement or upgrading
    Schedule
    21:00 Wed 16 Sept 2026 → 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 21:00 Wed 16 Sept 202606:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026 underway until 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
  • M5 both directions Jct 27 to Jct 26 - HS & lane 1 & 2closure

    PlannedRoadworksBoth directions
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J27 and J26
    Direction
    Both directions
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    21:00 Wed 16 Sept 2026 → 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 21:00 Wed 16 Sept 202606:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026 underway until 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
  • M5 both directions Jct 27 to Jct 26 - HS & lane 1 & 2closure

    PlannedRoadworksBoth directions
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J27 and J26
    Direction
    Both directions
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    21:00 Wed 16 Sept 2026 → 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 21:00 Wed 16 Sept 202606:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026 underway until 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
  • M5 Both Directions Jct 9 to Jct 15 mobile lane closures

    PlannedUpdateBoth directions
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound within J15
    Direction
    Both directions
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Sweeping of road
    Schedule
    20:00 Wed 16 Sept 2026 → 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 20:00 Wed 16 Sept 202606:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026 underway until 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
  • M5 Both Directions Jct 9 to Jct 15 mobile lane closures

    PlannedUpdateBoth directions
    Time now: Wednesday, 16 September 2026, 23:57

    23:3816 Sept 2026reported 18 min ago

    Location
    M5 northbound between J15 and J14
    Direction
    Both directions
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Sweeping of road
    Schedule
    20:00 Wed 16 Sept 2026 → 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 20:00 Wed 16 Sept 202606:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026 underway until 06:00 Thu 17 Sept 2026
  • Updated 23:57 Wed 16 Sept 2026

    Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds.

    One of the things that we dread as motorists is those orange cones and the overhead red cross telling you there is only one lane to filter into, and the drivers that decide to push into the only lane left open at the last possible minute often bring the whole motorway to a grinding halt. This approach to lanes closed ahead often leads to longer delays at roadworks that might not have arisen with a less aggressive approach to trying to be at the front, right?

    So, planning ahead can help you avoid those types of frustrating events, by taking a different route or travelling earlier or later to avoid the traffic jams. We feature the latest up-to-date M5 traffic information available to help you do that.

    M5 roadworks are often easier to plan around than unpredictable accidents or incidents. Roadworks are often carried out at night where possible, to avoid substantial impacts on traffic during the busy working day.

    However, overnight delivery drivers, people who work nights and the emergency services can often be affected by overnight closures, so knowing which slip roads, lanes or carriageways are closed, or where the number of available lanes is seriously reduced, all helps to plan a stress-free journey.

    That late-night return from a visit to a relative, or the later return than planned after an extra long, busy day, only to find the slip road you needed to exit at has been closed for the night for maintenance and repairs, are particularly frustrating and unpleasant surprises.

    Having to unexpectedly drive on to the next exit and figure out a route back to your home or original planned destination can be very frustrating and annoying, especially if you are tired or needed to be somewhere by a particular time.

    Hopefully our page, which features both current and planned roadworks on the M5, will enable you to check the roadworks information for your trip and avoid those types of frustrations.

    M5traffic.co.uk wishes you a safe and hassle-free M5 drive.

    Before you travel

    Roadworks on the M5 are most disruptive overnight and at weekends, when full carriageway closures are more common. Check the latest M5 traffic news for anything happening right now, and the M5 junction map to plan your exit.

    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.