Latest M6 traffic news, updates & roadworks

M6 Traffic

M6 Traffic News

1Accidentsreported on the M6 — see details3Roadworks activelive on the M6 right now — see details17Plannedscheduled on the M6 — see details

Live M6 traffic data from National Highways · updated 14:27 Sat 29 Aug

M6

What M6 Closures Are There Tonight?

If you are driving the M6 overnight — a night trunk run, an early start to beat the queues, or a long haul north towards Preston, Carlisle and the border — this page shows the closures reported as affecting the motorway tonight.

Listed below: everything reported as affecting the M6 between 6pm and 6am, newest first. See all M6 traffic news »

21 matching items - showing 1-10 of 21 total available news items

  • M6 - M42 link road hardshoulder closure northbound

    Active nowRoadworksNorthbound
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 southbound between J5 and J4A
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Hard shoulder closed
    Reason
    Road improvement or upgrading
    Schedule
    05:00 Mon 3 Aug → 05:00 Mon 7 Sept
    ⏳Long-term works - HA planned end: 05:00 Mon 7 Sept.

  • M6 Northbound and Southbound mobile hardshoulder closure (MP 290/5 - 346/6)

    Active nowUpdateNorthbound
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 southbound between J23 and J22
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Hard shoulder closed
    Reason
    Sweeping of road
    Schedule
    20:35 Sun 5 Apr → 23:59 Fri 31 Mar 2028
    ⏳Long-term works - HA planned end: 23:59 Fri 31 Mar 2028.

  • M6 - M42 link road hardshoulder closure northbound

    Active nowRoadworksNorthbound
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 southbound between J5 and J4A
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Hard shoulder closed
    Reason
    Road improvement or upgrading
    Schedule
    05:00 Mon 3 Aug → 05:00 Mon 7 Sept
    ⏳Long-term works - HA planned end: 05:00 Mon 7 Sept.

  • M6 Southbound Jct 41 entry slip road Lane 1 closure

    Active nowRoadworksNorthbound Slip road closed
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 northbound between J41 and J42
    Direction
    Northbound
    Lanes closed
    Slip road closed
    Reason
    Road improvement or upgrading
    Schedule
    20:00 Sat 18 Jul → 06:00 Tue 31 Dec 2030
    ⏳Long-term works - HA planned end: 06:00 Tue 31 Dec 2030.

  • M6 Southbound Jct 40 to 39 Lane 3 closure with Narrow lanes (Mp 459/4 - 455/7)

    PlannedRoadworksSouthbound
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 southbound between J40 and J39
    Direction
    Southbound
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    06:00 Sun 28 Jun → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 06:00 Sun 28 Jun → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov underway until 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

  • M6 Southbound Jct 40 to 39 Lane 3 closure with Narrow lanes (Mp 459/4 - 455/7)

    PlannedRoadworksSouthbound
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 southbound between J40 and J39
    Direction
    Southbound
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    06:00 Mon 15 Jun → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 06:00 Mon 15 Jun → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov underway until 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

  • M6 Southbound Jct 40 to 39 Lane 3 closure with Narrow lanes (Mp 459/4 - 455/7)

    PlannedRoadworksSouthbound
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 southbound within J40
    Direction
    Southbound
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    06:00 Mon 24 Aug → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 06:00 Mon 24 Aug → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov underway until 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

  • M6 Southbound Jct 40 to 39 Lane 3 closure with Narrow lanes (Mp 459/4 - 455/7)

    PlannedRoadworksSouthbound
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 southbound within J40
    Direction
    Southbound
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    06:00 Mon 24 Aug → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 06:00 Mon 24 Aug → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov underway until 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

  • M6 Southbound Jct 40 to 39 Lane 3 closure with Narrow lanes (Mp 459/4 - 455/7)

    PlannedRoadworksSouthbound
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 southbound within J40
    Direction
    Southbound
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    06:00 Mon 24 Aug → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 06:00 Mon 24 Aug → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov underway until 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

  • M6 Southbound Jct 40 to 39 Lane 3 closure with Narrow lanes (Mp 459/4 - 455/7)

    PlannedRoadworksSouthbound
    Time now: Saturday, 29 August 2026, 14:27

    14:1629 Aug 2026reported 10 min ago

    Location
    M6 southbound between J40 and J39
    Direction
    Southbound
    Lanes closed
    Lane closures
    Reason
    Maintenance work
    Schedule
    06:00 Tue 2 Jun → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

    Forecast - not confirmed

    🚧HA scheduled: 06:00 Tue 2 Jun → 20:00 Fri 13 Nov underway until 20:00 Fri 13 Nov

    • Updated 14:27 Sat 29 Aug

    Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds.

    What “tonight” means on this page

    Tonight runs from 6pm to 6am. Before 6am you are still inside last night’s window, so at 1am this page is still showing you tonight and not tomorrow.

    We list anything affecting that window, not only things starting in it. A closure that began three weeks ago and is still in place at 1am affects your journey tonight just as much as one that starts at 10pm, so it belongs here. Where a start or end time is shown it is National Highways’ own stated time, not our estimate.

    What usually closes a motorway overnight

    Most overnight closures are planned, and most are one of a handful of things:

    Those are the categories National Highways publishes in its traffic data, and the words are theirs, not ours.

    If nothing is showing

    An empty page is good news, not a broken one. It means there are no closures we are aware of affecting the M6 tonight. Because works are sometimes added late, cancelled without the record being updated, or never published at all, that is not a guarantee of a clear run — but it is the best picture available, and it is the same picture the official sources have. Everything currently reported on the M6, day and night together, is on our latest M6 traffic news page.

    The M6 overnight, and why it matters here

    The M6 is Britain’s freight motorway. Between Junctions 8 and 9 at Great Barr it carries 31,213 lorries a day — better than one vehicle in six — and a great many of those move at night. An overnight closure between Junction 20 and Junction 21, on the busiest measured stretch of the whole motorway, does not just delay a car; it can put an HGV on a diversion route it was never meant to use.

    That is why the M6 carries more overnight works than most: on a road this busy, closing a carriageway at 10pm is very often the only way to do the work at all.

    Related

    All M6 traffic news · M6 roadworks · M6 accidents and incidents · M6 northbound · M6 southbound

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