M40 crash J5–J4 southbound

Crash on the M40 southbound at J5–J4 on Friday 23 October 2026, from 07:03. Cleared at 09:02 after 1 h 59 min. Timeline of reports from the motorway signs and TomTom.

Status

Cleared 09:02 on 23 Oct 2026, after 1 h 59 min

Location

M40 southbound · J5–J4

Reported as

Collision

Sources

Motorway signs ×2 · TomTom

Timeline

1. 07:03 Motorway signs: “INCIDENT SLOW DOWN”
2. 07:41 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~7 min
3. 08:05 TomTom no longer reports it
4. 08:13 Motorway signs: “COLLISION SLOW DOWN”
5. 08:32 Motorway signs no longer show “INCIDENT SLOW DOWN”
6. 09:02 Motorway signs no longer show “COLLISION SLOW DOWN”
7. 09:02 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Overhead signs read “INCIDENT SLOW DOWN” (1 sign; furthest along: M40 southbound between J5 and J4).
• Stationary traffic
• Overhead signs read “COLLISION SLOW DOWN” (1 sign; furthest along: M40 southbound between J5 and J4).

Other recent incidents on the M40

• M40 reported crash J11–J10 southbound01:50 · cleared after 41 min
• M40 stopped traffic J9Wed 16:05 · cleared after 32 min
• M40 closedMon 23:46 · cleared after 41 min
• M40 stopped traffic J5–J4Mon 07:25 · cleared after 1 h 33 min
• M40 crash J5–J4 southboundSun 15:32 · cleared after 2 h 27 min
• M40 reported crash J3–J4 northbound16 Oct 2026 10:04 · cleared after 47 min
• M40 reported crash J3A northbound16 Oct 2026 08:11 · cleared after 39 min
• M40 crash J16–J1515 Oct 2026 18:58 · cleared after 18 min
• M40 crash J10–J9 southbound15 Oct 2026 06:03 · cleared after 2 h 47 min
• M40 reported crash J3A northbound14 Oct 2026 07:27 · cleared after 37 min

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