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Worst times to be on the M25, M1 and M6?

Didn't know if I should put this in motoring or travel so sorry if i'm in the wrong place! Next friday i'm driving from Kent to Cheshire, leaving at about 6:30 - 7am planning to get there for about 12 - 1pm. How bad do you reckon the traffic/vehicle amounts will be within this timeframe? I understand quite a bit of it is commuter times so i'm not expecting it to be a clear run, but anyone had experience on these motorways and know?

Any help would be sweet!
Original post by Joshhh
Didn't know if I should put this in motoring or travel so sorry if i'm in the wrong place! Next friday i'm driving from Kent to Cheshire, leaving at about 6:30 - 7am planning to get there for about 12 - 1pm. How bad do you reckon the traffic/vehicle amounts will be within this timeframe? I understand quite a bit of it is commuter times so i'm not expecting it to be a clear run, but anyone had experience on these motorways and know?

Any help would be sweet!


m6 is always busy no matter what time you go, i always avoid it t rush hour as it can get really congested. id find a different route if i were you.

not sure about the other 2
Reply 2
I don't regularly travel on the M25 but whenever I have, it can be from one extreme to the other within no distance at all. One time at around midnight it took 40 minutes to do 4 miles because they'd blocked it off into a single lane for "roadworks" I'd recommend having a look at keepmoving.com throughout next week and you could get an idea on delays on there
You will find that traffic will be quite heavy when during the first part of your journey due to the morning rush hour. By the time you are at J21a and heading on to the M1, you should find that things settle down a bit and traffic should not get any heavier for the duration of your journey.

I used to drive from Essex to Leeds regularly (M25, M1) and I would always try to leave at 11am for a 3pm arrival (missing the morning rush hour and arriving before the evening rush hour.) If I could not make for an 11am departure I would set of late evening - the best time to be on the road.

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