M6 Northbound Traffic
If you are heading north on the M6 — towards Stoke, Manchester, Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle or the Scottish border — this page covers your side of the motorway. Traffic on a motorway is rarely the same in both directions, and neither is the news.
Heading the other way? See M6 southbound traffic »
Search all the latest M6 traffic news →
Latest accident or incident on the M6
The most recent accident or incident on the M6 that we are aware of.
M6 Northbound and Southbound mobile hardshoulder closure (MP 290/5 - 346/6)
13:2429 Aug 2026reported 7 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
Latest active roadworks on the M6
Roadworks live on the M6 right now.
M6 - M42 link road hardshoulder closure northbound
13:2429 Aug 2026reported 7 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
+ 2 more active roadworks - search all M6 traffic news →
Latest planned roadworks on the M6
The next planned roadworks scheduled on the M6.
M6 Southbound Jct 40 to 39 Lane 3 closure with Narrow lanes (Mp 459/4 - 455/7)
13:2429 Aug 2026reported 7 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
+ 16 more planned roadworks - search all M6 traffic news →
Search all the latest M6 traffic news →
Updated 13:32 Sat 29 Aug
Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds.
How busy is the M6 northbound?
The Department for Transport counts the M6 separately in each direction, at 60 northbound count points out of 181 directional counts in total. The busiest northbound stretch is Junction 20 to Junction 21 spur, carrying 93,810 vehicles a day northbound on its own.
| Stretch (northbound) | Vehicles per day | Lorries |
|---|---|---|
| J20 to J21 spur | 93,810 | 11,378 |
| J30 to J31 | 87,988 | 6,836 |
| J6 to JLA boundary | 85,983 | 11,158 |
| J9 to J10 | 84,448 | 14,120 |
| J31 to J31A | 79,234 | 6,161 |
| J10 to J10A | 75,944 | 9,708 |
| J24 to J25 | 73,153 | 6,955 |
| J17 to J18 | 70,113 | 10,439 |
These are one-direction figures. For both carriageways combined see how busy the M6 is junction by junction.
Traffic count figures on this page are from the Department for Transport road traffic statistics, 2025. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.