M25 and M5 disruption from crashes, spills and a police incident

Motorists faced significant disruption on major motorways this week after a series of crashes and emergency incidents closed lanes and halted traffic on both the M25 and the M5, producing long tailbacks and prompting official travel warnings.

On October 29, a multivehicle collision and subsequent vehicle fire on the M25 anticlockwise carriageway between junction 29 at Romford and junction 28 at Brentwood forced traffic to be stopped during the morning rush. Emergency services attended just before 7am, and National Highways said an oil spillage from the incident required the closure of lanes two, three and four while the carriageway was cleaned. All lanes were later reopened, but the agency warned of roughly eight miles of congestion and delays exceeding 80 minutes as traffic slowly returned to normal. National Highways asked drivers to allow extra time or seek alternative routes, saying in an update, "All lanes have reopened on the M25 anticlockwise between J29 Romford and J28 Brentwood following an earlier collision and vehicle fire. There are approx. 8 miles congestion following this incident causing over 80 min delays. Please allow time for these delays to clear."