M6 crash J16–J15 southbound

Crash on the M6 southbound at J16–J15 on Monday 26 October 2026, from 14:18. Cleared at 17:50 after 3 h 31 min. Timeline of reports from TomTom, the motorway signs and National Highways.

Status

Cleared 17:50 on 26 Oct 2026, after 3 h 31 min

Location

M6 southbound · J16–J15

Reported as

Collision

Lanes

1 of 3 lanes closed

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~132 min

Sources

TomTom ×6 · Motorway signs ×7 · National Highways

Timeline

1. Mon 14:18 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~16 min
2. Mon 14:22 Motorway signs: “COLLISION SLOW DOWN”
3. Mon 14:27 TomTom: delay now ~36 min (was ~19)
4. Mon 14:27 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~6 min
5. Mon 14:41 TomTom: delay now ~25 min (was ~12)
6. Mon 14:41 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
7. Mon 14:46 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~40 min
8. Mon 14:50 TomTom: now says broken-down vehicle, delay now ~59 min (was ~40), “traffic, Broken down vehicle”
9. Mon 15:04 TomTom: delay now ~97 min (was ~67)
10. Mon 15:13 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~132 min
11. Mon 15:25 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
12. Mon 15:26 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF DEBRIS”
13. Mon 15:26 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF DEBRIS”
14. Mon 15:32 TomTom: delay now ~72 min (was ~113)
15. Mon 15:33 Motorway signs no longer show “COLLISION SLOW DOWN”
16. Mon 15:55 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Queuing traffic”, delay ~5 min
17. Mon 16:03 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF DEBRIS”
18. Mon 16:03 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
19. Mon 16:04 TomTom: delay now ~9 min (was ~43), “Queuing traffic”
20. Mon 16:04 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
21. Mon 16:08 TomTom: delay now ~14 min (was ~6)
22. Mon 16:09 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE”
23. Mon 16:11 National Highways: 1 of 3 lanes closed
24. Mon 16:13 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~31 min
25. Mon 16:17 TomTom: delay now ~17 min (was ~31), “Queuing traffic”
26. Mon 16:22 TomTom: delay now ~27 min (was ~17)
27. Mon 16:26 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
28. Mon 16:31 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
29. Mon 16:33 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF DEBRIS”
30. Mon 16:35 Motorway signs no longer show “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
31. Mon 16:35 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
32. Mon 16:36 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
33. Mon 16:36 TomTom: now says queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”
34. Mon 16:45 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
35. Mon 16:50 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
36. Mon 17:03 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
37. Mon 17:08 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
38. Mon 17:15 National Highways: lane closure lifted
39. Mon 17:17 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
40. Mon 17:26 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
41. Mon 17:31 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
42. Mon 17:33 Motorway signs no longer show “STRANDED VEHICLE”
43. Mon 17:50 TomTom no longer reports it
44. Mon 17:50 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Stationary traffic
• Overhead signs read “COLLISION SLOW DOWN” (1 sign; furthest along: M6 southbound between J16 and J15).
• Slow traffic
• Overhead signs read “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW” (1 sign; furthest along: M6 northbound between J15 and J16).
• Queuing traffic
• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF DEBRIS” (22 signs; furthest along: M6 southbound between J15 and J14).
• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION” (4 signs; furthest along: M6 northbound between J16 and J17).
• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION” (2 signs; furthest along: M6 northbound between J16 and J17).
• Overhead signs read “STRANDED VEHICLE” (2 signs; furthest along: M6 southbound at the Sandbach services between J17 and J16).
• M6 southbound between J17 and J16

Other recent incidents on the M6

• M6 reported crash J16–J15 southboundyesterday 13:25 · cleared after 56 min
• M6 stopped traffic J6–J7 northboundyesterday 11:58 · cleared after 2 h 22 min
• M6 crash J18–J19 southboundyesterday 11:12 · cleared after 59 min
• M6 crash J23–J22 southboundyesterday 06:45 · cleared after 3 h 4 min
• M6 stopped traffic J9–J10yesterday 06:09 · cleared after 3 h 17 min
• M6 crash J4 southboundyesterday 05:53 · cleared after 3 h 52 min
• M6 stopped traffic J10–J9 southboundSun 18:24 · cleared after 4 h 40 min
• M6 crash J15–J14 southboundSun 16:45 · cleared after 14 h 4 min
• M6 stopped traffic J18–J19 northboundSun 16:02 · cleared after 1 h 31 min
• M6 crash J13–J14 northboundSun 14:01 · cleared after 43 min

Live traffic and past incidents at M6 J16 and M6 J15.

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