M6 crash J18–J17 southbound

Crash on the M6 southbound at J18–J17 on Monday 26 October 2026, from 10:11. Cleared at 12:16 after 2 h 5 min. Timeline of reports from TomTom, the motorway signs and National Highways.

Status

Cleared 12:16 on 26 Oct 2026, after 2 h 5 min

Location

M6 southbound · J18–J17

Reported as

Collision

Lanes

2 of 4 lanes closed

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~27 min

Sources

TomTom ×3 · Motorway signs ×3 · National Highways ×9

Timeline

1. Mon 10:11 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~4 min
2. Mon 10:11 Motorway signs: “COLLISION”
3. Mon 10:12 National Highways: 2 of 4 lanes closed
4. Mon 10:13 Motorway signs: “INCIDENT”
5. Mon 10:14 National Highways: 1 of 3 lanes closed
6. Mon 10:14 National Highways: 1 of 4 lanes closed
7. Mon 10:14 National Highways: 1 of 3 lanes closed
8. Mon 10:14 National Highways: 1 of 3 lanes closed
9. Mon 10:14 National Highways: 1 of 3 lanes closed
10. Mon 10:15 Motorway signs: “LANE CLOSED FOR INCIDENT ACCESS”
11. Mon 10:16 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
12. Mon 10:20 TomTom: now says collision, delay now ~17 min (was ~7), “Stationary traffic, Accident”
13. Mon 10:34 TomTom: now says queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”
14. Mon 10:42 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
15. Mon 10:52 TomTom: delay now ~11 min (was ~17), “Slow traffic”
16. Mon 10:56 TomTom: delay now ~16 min (was ~11), “Queuing traffic”
17. Mon 11:00 National Highways: lane closure lifted
18. Mon 11:00 National Highways: lane closure lifted
19. Mon 11:00 National Highways: lane closure lifted
20. Mon 11:00 All clear: no source reports it any more
21. Mon 11:01 TomTom: delay now ~11 min (was ~16), “Slow traffic”
22. Mon 11:02 Motorway signs no longer show “INCIDENT”
23. Mon 11:02 Motorway signs no longer show “COLLISION”
24. Mon 11:02 Motorway signs no longer show “LANE CLOSED FOR INCIDENT ACCESS”
25. Mon 11:17 National Highways: 1 of 3 lanes closed
26. Mon 11:19 TomTom: obstruction or hazard, “Heavy rain, Heavy traffic”, delay ~1 min
27. Mon 11:46 TomTom: obstruction or hazard, “Heavy rain, Slow traffic”, delay ~3 min
28. Mon 11:46 TomTom: now says obstruction or hazard, “Heavy rain, Slow traffic”
29. Mon 11:52 TomTom no longer reports it
30. Mon 12:16 National Highways: lane closure lifted
31. Mon 12:16 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Heavy rain, Slow traffic
• Overhead signs read “INCIDENT” (2 signs; furthest along: M6 southbound between J18 and J17).
• Overhead signs read “COLLISION” (3 signs; furthest along: M6 southbound between J18 and J17).
• Overhead signs read “LANE CLOSED FOR INCIDENT ACCESS” (1 sign; furthest along: M6 southbound between J18 and J17).
• M6 southbound between J18 and J17
• M6 southbound within J17
• M6 southbound within J18
• M6 southbound between J19 and J18
• Heavy rain, Heavy traffic

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 J18 and M6 J17.

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