M5 stopped traffic J2–J3 southbound

Cleared Cleared at 08:24 on 8 Oct 2026, after 135 h 52 min.

Stopped traffic on the M5 southbound at J2–J3 on Friday 2 October 2026, from 16:32. Cleared at 08:24 after 135 h 52 min. Timeline of reports from the motorway signs and TomTom.

1. B

   M5 southbound · J2–J3

   Broken-down vehicle

   Fri 16:32–08:24 (cleared after 135 h 52 min) · delay ~21 min · queue 4.0 mi

   Motorway signs · TomTom ×2

See the M5 on the live map M5 traffic now

Timeline

1. Fri 16:08 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
2. Fri 19:33 Motorway signs no longer show “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
3. Fri 19:33 All clear: no source reports it any more
4. 07:23 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW” (reported again)
5. 07:33 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Queuing traffic”, delay ~6 min
6. 07:37 TomTom: delay now ~19 min (was ~6), “Stationary traffic”
7. 07:46 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~13 min
8. 07:56 TomTom: delay now ~5 min (was ~11), “Slow traffic”
9. 08:01 TomTom no longer reports it
10. 08:24 Motorway signs no longer show “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
11. 08:24 All clear: no source reports it any more

What the sources said

• Overhead signs read “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW” (2 signs; furthest along: M5 southbound between J2 and J3).
• Stationary traffic
• Slow traffic

Other recent incidents on the M5

• M5 closed J24–J23 · 02:26, cleared after 2 h 45 min
• M5 closed J17–J18 · 02:08, cleared after 14 min
• M5 closed J2–J1 · yesterday 23:26, cleared after 5 h 8 min
• M5 closed J24–J23 · yesterday 23:23, cleared after 1 h 13 min
• M5 closed J11A–J12 southbound · yesterday 21:10, cleared after 1 h 27 min
• M5 closed J26–J27 southbound · yesterday 19:22, cleared after 10 h 8 min
• M5 closed J25 southbound · yesterday 19:22, cleared after 10 h 31 min
• M5 closed J30–J31 southbound · yesterday 19:22, cleared after 10 h 8 min
• M5 crash J4–J3 northbound · Tue 21:51, cleared after 14 h 29 min
• M5 closed J16 northbound · Tue 20:53, cleared after 7 h 12 min

About this page

This page shows what the data sources reported about this event and when, merged from every source that reported it at the same place. It doesn't say what caused it or whether anyone was hurt: no source reports that. Times are UK time. For live alerts, follow @motorways.me on Bluesky.