M5 stopped traffic J4A northbound

Stopped traffic on the M5 northbound at J4A on Tuesday 20 October 2026, from 17:11. Still reported at 19:03 UK time. Timeline of reports from the motorway signs and TomTom.

Status

Live since 17:11 (1 h 52 min)

Location

M5 northbound · J4A

Reported as

Broken-down vehicle

Delay

~5 min

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~21 min

Sources

Motorway signs ×2 · TomTom ×2

Timeline

1. 17:11 Motorway signs: “OBSTRUCTION ON SLIP ROAD”
2. 17:11 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
3. 17:20 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~12 min
4. 17:29 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
5. 17:34 TomTom: delay now ~21 min (was ~16), “Stationary traffic”
6. 17:43 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
7. 17:47 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
8. 17:52 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
9. 18:10 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
10. 18:47 TomTom: delay now ~21 min (was ~16)
11. 18:56 TomTom: delay now ~8 min (was ~18)
12. 19:01 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~5 min

Source reports

• Overhead signs read “OBSTRUCTION ON SLIP ROAD” (1 sign; furthest along: M5 northbound between J4A and J4).
• Overhead signs read “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW” (1 sign; furthest along: M5 northbound within J4A).
• Stationary traffic
• Slow traffic

Other recent incidents on the M5

• M5 reported crash J7–J8 southboundyesterday 07:26 · cleared after 43 min
• M5 reported crash J10–J11 southboundSun 18:42 · cleared after 1 h 24 min
• M5 crash J6–J5 northboundSun 17:31 · cleared after 2 h 5 min
• M5 reported crash J26–J27 southboundSun 08:54 · cleared after 40 min
• M5 crash J1–J2 southboundSat 11:03 · cleared after 3 h 29 min
• M5 stopped traffic J7–J8Fri 16:07 · cleared after 2 h 54 min
• M5 stopped traffic J19–J18 northboundFri 15:36 · cleared after 2 h 50 min
• M5 crash J10–J9 northboundFri 13:11 · cleared after 4 h 55 min
• M5 crash J4A–J5 southboundThu 23:54 · cleared after 1 h 54 min
• M5 closed J24–J23Thu 21:40 · cleared after 3 h 26 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.