M6 crash J17–J16 southbound

Crash on the M6 southbound at J17–J16 on Tuesday 20 October 2026, from 19:41. Cleared at 21:58 after 2 h 17 min. Timeline of reports from the motorway signs, TomTom and National Highways.

Status

Cleared 21:58 on 20 Oct 2026, after 2 h 17 min

Location

M6 southbound · J17–J16

Reported as

Collision

Lanes

1 of 3 lanes closed

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~64 min

Sources

Motorway signs ×5 · TomTom · National Highways ×15

Timeline

1. 19:41 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF COLLISION”
2. 19:52 Motorway signs: “COLLISION”
3. 19:52 National Highways: 1 of 3 lanes closed
4. 19:59 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~10 min
5. 20:04 TomTom: delay now ~21 min (was ~10)
6. 20:09 TomTom: delay now ~37 min (was ~21)
7. 20:12 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
8. 20:18 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF COLLISION”
9. 20:36 TomTom: delay now ~23 min (was ~53)
10. 20:36 National Highways: 1 of 3 lanes closed
11. 20:42 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
12. 20:49 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
13. 20:50 TomTom: delay now ~19 min (was ~29)
14. 20:54 TomTom: delay now ~5 min (was ~19), “Slow traffic”
15. 21:04 TomTom no longer reports it
16. 21:11 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
17. 21:16 National Highways: 1 of 3 lanes closed
18. 21:19 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
19. 21:47 Motorway signs no longer show “COLLISION”
20. 21:49 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION”
21. 21:58 National Highways: lane closure lifted
22. 21:58 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF COLLISION” (9 signs; furthest along: M6 southbound between J17 and J16).
• Slow traffic
• Overhead signs read “COLLISION” (4 signs; furthest along: M6 southbound between J17 and J16).
• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION” (2 signs; furthest along: M6 northbound between J16 and J17).
• M6 southbound between J17 and J16
• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF OBSTRUCTION” (1 sign; furthest along: M6 northbound at the Sandbach services between J16 and J17).

Other recent incidents on the M6

• M6 crash J31A–J31 southbound16:46 · cleared after 2 h 32 min
• M6 stopped traffic J20–J21 northbound13:36 · cleared after 5 h 32 min
• M6 crash J6 northbound12:03 · cleared after 7 h 46 min
• M6 stopped traffic J28–J27 southbound11:28 · cleared after 1 h 48 min
• M6 stopped traffic J4–J4A northbound10:50 · cleared after 8 h 28 min
• M6 crash J32–J33 northbound10:40 · cleared after 2 h 6 min
• M6 crash J14–J15 northbound08:51 · cleared after 54 min
• M6 stopped traffic J23–J22 southbound06:41 · cleared after 4 h 12 min
• M6 stopped traffic J8–J906:19 · cleared after 3 h 4 min
• M6 stopped traffic J7–J6 southbound06:14 · cleared after 4 h 35 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.