M6 stopped traffic J5–J6 southbound

Stopped traffic on the M6 southbound at J5–J6 on Friday 30 October 2026, from 06:45. Cleared at 08:20 after 1 h 35 min. Timeline of reports from TomTom and the motorway signs.

Status

Cleared 08:20 on 30 Oct 2026, after 1 h 35 min

Location

M6 southbound · J5–J6

Reported as

Broken-down vehicle

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~44 min

Sources

TomTom ×2 · Motorway signs

Timeline

1. Fri 06:45 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~10 min
2. Fri 06:47 Motorway signs: “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
3. Fri 06:50 TomTom: delay now ~16 min (was ~10)
4. Fri 06:55 TomTom: delay now ~22 min (was ~16)
5. Fri 07:00 TomTom: delay now ~31 min (was ~22)
6. Fri 07:25 TomTom: now says broken-down vehicle, delay now ~44 min (was ~28), “traffic, Broken down vehicle”
7. Fri 07:50 TomTom: “Queuing traffic, Broken down vehicle”
8. Fri 08:00 TomTom: delay now ~6 min (was ~14), “Slow traffic, Broken down vehicle”
9. Fri 08:00 Motorway signs no longer show “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW”
10. Fri 08:10 TomTom: broken-down vehicle, “Slow traffic, Broken down vehicle, Hard shoulder closed”, delay ~4 min
11. Fri 08:20 TomTom no longer reports it
12. Fri 08:20 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Slow traffic, Broken down vehicle
• Overhead signs read “STRANDED VEHICLE-SLOW” (1 sign; furthest along: M6 southbound between J5 and J4A).
• Slow traffic, Broken down vehicle, Hard shoulder 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 J5 and M6 J6.

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