M40 closed J3–J2 southbound (obstruction)

Road closure on the M40 southbound at J3–J2 on Thursday 24 September 2026, from 11:38. Cleared at 12:35 after 57 min. Timeline of reports from TomTom and the motorway signs.

Status

Cleared 12:35 on 24 Sept 2026, after 57 min

Location

M40 southbound · J3–J2

Reported as

Obstruction or hazard

Lanes

Road closed

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~44 min

Sources

TomTom ×2 · Motorway signs ×3

Timeline

1. Thu 11:38 Motorway signs: “ANIMALS IN ROAD - SLOW”
2. Thu 11:42 Motorway signs: “ANIMALS IN ROAD - SLOW”
3. Thu 11:42 Motorway signs: “INCIDENT SLOW DOWN”
4. Thu 11:57 TomTom: road closed
5. Thu 12:06 TomTom: collision, “Stationary traffic, Incident”, delay ~41 min
6. Thu 12:09 TomTom: now says queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”
7. Thu 12:14 TomTom: delay now ~27 min (was ~44)
8. Thu 12:19 TomTom no longer reports it
9. Thu 12:35 Motorway signs no longer show “ANIMALS IN ROAD - SLOW”
10. Thu 12:35 Motorway signs no longer show “INCIDENT SLOW DOWN”
11. Thu 12:35 All clear: no source reports it any more
12. Thu 12:35 Motorway signs no longer show “ANIMALS IN ROAD - SLOW”

Source reports

• Closed
• Overhead signs read “ANIMALS IN ROAD - SLOW” (1 sign; furthest along: M40 southbound between J3 and J2).
• Overhead signs read “ANIMALS IN ROAD - SLOW” (1 sign; furthest along: M40 northbound between J2 and J3).
• Overhead signs read “INCIDENT SLOW DOWN” (3 signs; furthest along: M40 northbound between J2 and J3).
• Stationary traffic

Other recent incidents on the M40

• M40 reported crash J9 northboundyesterday 17:27 · cleared after 1 h 44 min
• M40 reported crash J9–J10 northboundyesterday 10:49 · cleared after 49 min
• M40 crash J5–J4 southboundyesterday 06:19 · cleared after 2 h 43 min
• M40 reported crash J3–J4 northboundyesterday 04:36 · cleared after 1 h 1 min
• M40 reported crash J12–J11 southboundMon 21:21 · cleared after 44 min
• M40 stopped traffic J2–J1A southboundMon 07:16 · cleared after 2 h 45 min
• M40 closed J1A–J2 southboundMon 06:01 · cleared after 3 h 6 min
• M40 reported crash J9 southboundSat 17:40 · cleared after 42 min
• M40 reported crash J9 southboundSat 00:06 · cleared after 41 min
• M40 reported crash J3A northboundFri 17:58 · cleared after 47 min

Live traffic and past incidents at M40 J3 and M40 J2.

The sources don't report causes or injuries, so neither does this page. Times are UK time. For alerts, follow @motorways.me on Bluesky.