M5 crash J5–J4A northbound

Crash on the M5 northbound at J5–J4A on Saturday 26 September 2026, from 02:44. Cleared at 18:14 after 327 h 30 min. Timeline of reports from the motorway signs, TomTom and National Highways.

Status

Cleared 18:14 on 9 Oct 2026, after 327 h 30 min

Location

M5 northbound · J5–J4A

Reported as

Collision

Lanes

2 of 4 lanes closed

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~116 min

Sources

Motorway signs ×5 · TomTom ×3 · National Highways ×6

Timeline

1. Sat 02:34 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
2. Sat 03:14 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
3. Sat 03:14 All clear: no source reports it any more
4. Sun 13:01 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION” (reported again)
5. Sun 13:07 Motorway signs: “COLLISION [HCA0]”
6. Sun 13:08 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~23 min
7. Sun 13:12 TomTom: delay now ~36 min (was ~23)
8. Sun 13:17 TomTom: now says collision, delay now ~47 min (was ~36), “Stationary traffic, Accident”
9. Sun 13:23 National Highways: 1 of 4 lanes closed
10. Sun 13:23 National Highways: 2 of 4 lanes closed
11. Sun 13:23 National Highways: 1 of 4 lanes closed
12. Sun 13:31 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
13. Sun 13:38 National Highways: 1 of 4 lanes closed
14. Sun 13:38 Motorway signs: “COLLISION”
15. Sun 13:56 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
16. Sun 14:01 Motorway signs no longer show “COLLISION [HCA0]”
17. Sun 14:03 TomTom: delay now ~116 min (was ~84)
18. Sun 14:25 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE”
19. Sun 14:31 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
20. Sun 14:49 TomTom: now says queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”
21. Sun 14:51 National Highways: 1 of 4 lanes closed
22. Sun 14:53 TomTom: delay now ~24 min (was ~37)
23. Sun 14:54 National Highways: lane closure lifted
24. Sun 14:58 TomTom: delay now ~13 min (was ~24), “Queuing traffic”
25. Sun 15:01 Motorway signs no longer show “COLLISION”
26. Sun 15:02 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
27. Sun 15:16 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~4 min
28. Sun 15:21 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
29. Sun 15:30 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
30. Sun 15:34 TomTom no longer reports it
31. Sun 15:38 National Highways: lane closure lifted
32. Sun 16:01 Motorway signs no longer show “STRANDED VEHICLE”
33. Sun 16:01 All clear: no source reports it any more
34. Mon 00:33 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION” (reported again)
35. Mon 01:03 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
36. Mon 01:03 All clear: no source reports it any more
37. Mon 10:05 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION” (reported again)
38. Mon 20:38 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
39. Mon 20:38 All clear: no source reports it any more
40. Fri 17:32 National Highways: 1 of 4 lanes closed
41. Fri 17:39 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE” (reported again)
42. Fri 17:51 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~16 min
43. Fri 17:55 TomTom: delay now ~10 min (was ~16)
44. Fri 18:00 TomTom: delay now ~4 min (was ~10), “Queuing traffic”
45. Fri 18:04 TomTom no longer reports it
46. Fri 18:09 Motorway signs no longer show “STRANDED VEHICLE”
47. Fri 18:14 National Highways: lane closure lifted
48. Fri 18:14 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION” (3 signs; furthest along: M5 northbound between J5 and J4A).
• Slow traffic
• Overhead signs read “COLLISION [HCA0]” (3 signs; furthest along: M5 northbound between J5 and J4A).
• M5 northbound within J5
• M5 northbound between J5 and J4A
• Overhead signs read “COLLISION” (1 sign; furthest along: M5 northbound between J5 and J4A).
• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION” (2 signs; furthest along: M5 southbound between J4A and J5).
• Overhead signs read “STRANDED VEHICLE” (1 sign; furthest along: M5 northbound between J6 and J5).
• M5 northbound between J6 and J5
• Queuing traffic

Other recent incidents on the M5

• M5 crash J4–J4A southbound13:32 · Live
• M5 crash J1 northbound12:16 · cleared after 36 min
• M5 reported crash J20–J19 northbound09:45 · cleared after 36 min
• M5 crash J3–J2 northbound05:55 · cleared after 55 min
• M5 crash J1 northboundyesterday 19:15 · cleared after 2 h 15 min
• M5 crash J7–J8 southboundyesterday 15:47 · cleared after 2 h
• M5 reported crash J20–J19 northboundyesterday 12:44 · cleared after 1 h 2 min
• M5 crash J8–J7 northboundyesterday 11:23 · cleared after 52 min
• M5 crash J1 southboundyesterday 07:14 · cleared after 1 h 41 min
• M5 closed J24–J25 southboundyesterday 03:50 · cleared after 1 h 4 min

Live traffic and past incidents at M5 J5 and M5 J4A.

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