M5 traffic delays up to an hour

One driver said he'd already been queuing an hour and 15 minutes

Jeff Reines Editor 18:40, 29 Mar 2026Updated 18:46, 29 Mar 2026

The M5 northbound closed following a crash involving a lorry and diesel spill

Officials are warning that delays in the chaos of the M5 after a lorry crash are lasting up to an hour.

The motorway northbound remains closed with queueing traffic following a collision[1] involving a lorry hitting the central reservation earlier today. A large diesel spill from the lorry is causing the road to remain closed between junctions 13, for Stroud, and 14.

The crash happened before 2pm and by 3pm traffic monitoring site Inrix reported that queues were forming southbound as people slowed to look at the scene unfolding in the other direction.

One lane southbound has also been shut by National Highways.

Diversion routes[2] have been put in place.

And now National Highways has warned drivers they face delays of up to an hour in one direction.

The agency posted on X: "M5 remains closed northbound between J14 at Falfield and J13 for Stroud due to a collision, barrier damage and a large diesel spillage.

"Delays of 60 minutes northbound (four miles of congestion) and 30 minutes southbound (three miles of congestion)."

However one driver said it's worse than that.

Dave Hall replied: "Been in the northbound queue one hour and 15 minutes already nowhere near the junction."

Follow updates in our live blog here[3].

References

1. ^ remains closed with queueing traffic following a collision (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
2. ^ Diversion routes (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
3. ^ our live blog here (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)