M42 crash J2–J1 southbound

Crash on the M42 southbound at J2–J1 on Wednesday 21 October 2026, from 12:12. Still reported at 13:44 UK time. Timeline of reports from the motorway signs, TomTom and National Highways.

Status

Live since 12:12 (1 h 32 min)

Location

M42 southbound · J2–J1

Reported as

Collision

Lanes

Road closed

Delay

~59 min

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~82 min

Sources

Motorway signs ×2 · TomTom ×2 · National Highways ×2

Timeline

1. 12:12 Motorway signs: “ANIMALS IN ROAD - SLOW”
2. 12:24 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~32 min
3. 12:29 TomTom: now says collision, delay now ~46 min (was ~32), “Stationary traffic, Incident”
4. 12:35 Motorway signs: “COLLISION SLOW DOWN”
5. 12:41 National Highways: road closed
6. 12:52 Motorway signs no longer show “ANIMALS IN ROAD - SLOW”
7. 13:06 National Highways: road closed
8. 13:14 TomTom: collision, “Closed, Incident”, road closed
9. 13:19 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~82 min (reported again)

Source reports

• Overhead signs read “ANIMALS IN ROAD - SLOW” (2 signs; furthest along: M42 southbound between J2 and J1).
• Stationary traffic
• Overhead signs read “COLLISION SLOW DOWN” (1 sign; furthest along: M42 southbound between J2 and J1).
• M42 southbound between J2 and J1
• Closed, Incident

Other recent incidents on the M42

• M42 stopped traffic J9–J10yesterday 14:29 · cleared after 3 h 45 min
• M42 crash J3–J2 southboundyesterday 07:01 · cleared after 4 h 15 min
• M42 stopped traffic J10–J9yesterday 06:42 · cleared after 2 h 22 min
• M42 crash J10–J9 southboundMon 06:23 · cleared after 3 h 5 min
• M42 reported crash J4A northboundSun 16:19 · cleared after 2 h 17 min
• M42 delays J2–J3Fri 15:53 · cleared after 2 h 31 min
• M42 crash J10 northboundFri 15:48 · cleared after 4 h 7 min
• M42 reported crash J3A northboundFri 08:11 · cleared after 39 min
• M42 crash J4A southboundThu 23:58 · cleared after 50 min
• M42 delays J6Thu 13:59 · cleared after 4 h 46 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.