M6 crash J21–J20 southbound

Crash on the M6 southbound at J21–J20 on Tuesday 27 October 2026, from 05:38. Cleared at 19:21 after 13 h 43 min. Timeline of reports from the motorway signs, TomTom and National Highways.

Status

Cleared 19:21 on 27 Oct 2026, after 13 h 43 min

Location

M6 southbound · J21–J20

Reported as

Collision

Lanes

1 of 5 lanes closed

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~350 min

Sources

Motorway signs ×3 · TomTom ×5 · National Highways ×2

Timeline

1. Tue 05:38 Motorway signs: “OBSTRUCTION ON SLIP ROAD”
2. Tue 05:57 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic, Lane closed”, delay ~17 min
3. Tue 06:06 TomTom: delay now ~30 min (was ~21)
4. Tue 06:11 TomTom: now says collision, “Accident, Lane closed”
5. Tue 06:16 TomTom: delay now ~57 min (was ~30)
6. Tue 06:29 TomTom: delay now ~60 min (was ~46)
7. Tue 06:34 TomTom: delay now ~350 min (was ~60)
8. Tue 06:38 TomTom: delay now ~72 min (was ~350)
9. Tue 07:21 Motorway signs: “SERIOUS COLLISION”
10. Tue 07:42 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF DEBRIS”
11. Tue 07:47 TomTom: delay now ~126 min (was ~78)
12. Tue 08:30 Motorway signs no longer show “OBSTRUCTION ON SLIP ROAD”
13. Tue 08:30 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF DEBRIS”
14. Tue 10:00 TomTom: now says queueing traffic, delay now ~67 min (was ~50), “Stationary traffic, Lane closed”
15. Tue 10:14 TomTom: delay now ~24 min (was ~41)
16. Tue 10:19 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic, Lane closed”, delay ~13 min
17. Tue 10:23 TomTom: delay now ~4 min (was ~13), “Queuing traffic, Lane closed”
18. Tue 10:28 TomTom: “Slow traffic, Lane closed”
19. Tue 10:32 TomTom no longer reports it
20. Tue 10:33 National Highways: 1 of 5 lanes closed
21. Tue 10:59 National Highways: 1 of 5 lanes closed
22. Tue 11:35 National Highways: lane closure lifted
23. Tue 15:48 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic, Lane closed”, delay ~4 min
24. Tue 16:07 TomTom no longer reports it
25. Tue 16:11 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic, Lane closed”, delay ~4 min
26. Tue 16:25 TomTom: “Queuing traffic, Lane closed”
27. Tue 16:48 TomTom: “Stationary traffic, Lane closed”
28. Tue 16:52 TomTom: “Queuing traffic, Lane closed”
29. Tue 16:57 TomTom: “Stationary traffic, Lane closed”
30. Tue 17:06 TomTom: “Queuing traffic, Lane closed”
31. Tue 17:15 TomTom no longer reports it
32. Tue 17:16 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Queuing traffic, Lane closed”, delay ~10 min (reported again)
33. Tue 17:29 TomTom: “Stationary traffic, Lane closed”
34. Tue 17:38 TomTom no longer reports it
35. Tue 17:39 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic, Lane closed”, delay ~11 min (reported again)
36. Tue 18:15 TomTom: “Queuing traffic, Lane closed”
37. Tue 18:29 TomTom: “Slow traffic, Lane closed”
38. Tue 18:33 TomTom no longer reports it
39. Tue 19:21 Motorway signs: still reported after more than 12 hours, so treated as out of date
40. Tue 19:21 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Overhead signs read “OBSTRUCTION ON SLIP ROAD” (1 sign; furthest along: M6 northbound between J20 and J21).
• Stationary traffic, Lane closed
• Overhead signs read “SERIOUS COLLISION” (5 signs; furthest along: M6 southbound between J21 and J20).
• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF DEBRIS” (1 sign; furthest along: M6 southbound within J21A after M62 J10 eastbound exit).
• Slow traffic, Lane closed
• M6 southbound between J21A and J21
• Queuing traffic, Lane closed

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 J21 and M6 J20.

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