M6 crash J6 northbound

Crash on the M6 northbound at J6 on Tuesday 20 October 2026, from 12:03. Cleared at 19:48 after 7 h 46 min. Timeline of reports from TomTom and the motorway signs.

Status

Cleared 19:48 on 20 Oct 2026, after 7 h 46 min

Location

M6 northbound · J6

Reported as

Collision

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~28 min

Sources

TomTom ×13 · Motorway signs ×3

Timeline

1. 12:03 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~4 min
2. 12:30 TomTom no longer reports it
3. 12:30 All clear: no source reports it any more
4. 12:39 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~3 min (reported again)
5. 12:58 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Queuing traffic”, delay ~5 min
6. 13:02 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~11 min
7. 13:07 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
8. 13:11 TomTom: delay now ~4 min (was ~9), “Slow traffic”
9. 13:16 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
10. 13:21 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Queuing traffic”, delay ~7 min
11. 13:25 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~6 min
12. 13:39 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~3 min
13. 13:57 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
14. 14:06 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
15. 14:11 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~3 min (reported again)
16. 14:29 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
17. 14:34 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
18. 14:48 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
19. 15:06 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
20. 15:10 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
21. 15:20 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
22. 15:29 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
23. 15:38 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
24. 15:42 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
25. 15:42 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
26. 15:43 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Queuing traffic”, delay ~13 min
27. 15:47 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
28. 15:47 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
29. 15:47 TomTom: delay now ~4 min (was ~16)
30. 15:47 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
31. 15:52 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
32. 15:52 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
33. 15:56 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
34. 16:00 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
35. 16:34 Motorway signs: “REPORT OF VEHICLE FIRE”
36. 16:38 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~4 min
37. 16:47 TomTom: delay now ~19 min (was ~14)
38. 16:47 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
39. 16:52 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
40. 16:56 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
41. 16:57 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
42. 17:18 Motorway signs no longer show “REPORT OF VEHICLE FIRE”
43. 17:24 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
44. 17:28 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
45. 17:47 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
46. 17:48 Motorway signs no longer show “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
47. 17:52 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~7 min
48. 17:56 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
49. 18:00 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
50. 18:10 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
51. 18:14 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~5 min
52. 18:18 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW” (reported again)
53. 18:19 TomTom: “Queuing traffic”
54. 18:19 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~5 min
55. 18:28 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
56. 18:32 TomTom: “Stationary traffic”
57. 18:32 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~9 min (reported again)
58. 18:42 TomTom: delay now ~5 min (was ~11)
59. 18:42 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~10 min
60. 18:48 Motorway signs no longer show “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
61. 19:03 Motorway signs: “COLLISION SLOW DOWN”
62. 19:18 TomTom: delay now ~9 min (was ~14), “Queuing traffic”
63. 19:23 TomTom: “Slow traffic”
64. 19:27 TomTom no longer reports it
65. 19:32 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~3 min
66. 19:36 TomTom no longer reports it
67. 19:48 Motorway signs no longer show “COLLISION SLOW DOWN”
68. 19:48 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Slow traffic
• Stationary traffic
• Queuing traffic
• Overhead signs read “REPORT OF VEHICLE FIRE” (7 signs; furthest along: M6 northbound between J10A and J11).
• Overhead signs read “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW” (1 sign; furthest along: M6 southbound between J7 and J6).
• Overhead signs read “COLLISION SLOW DOWN” (1 sign; furthest along: link road from A38(M) to M6 J6 northbound).

Other recent incidents on the M6

• M6 crash J17–J16 southbound19:41 · Live
• 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 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.