Gridlock begins around M25 diversion as stretch of motorway shut all weekend – live

Yes. The easy option is to take the Elizabeth Line from Heathrow to Farringdon in central London, which has a direct connection to Thameslink trains. The journey time is about 90 minutes.

Maddeningly, National Rail does not offer fares for the whole journey. The solution is to buy one ticket from Heathrow to East Croydon and another from there to Gatwick. The total single fare is £22.30.

Junctions 10 and 11 serve as key intersections on the southwest quadrant of the M25, Britain’s busiest motorway.

Junction 10 is where the M25 meets the A3 to Guildford and Portsmouth, with many motorists also accessing Chessington World of Adventure. Junction 11 serves the key link of the A320 between Staines and Woking, as well as the A317 to Weybridge.

Travellers accessing Heathrow and Gatwick airports will be affected, as will many motorists heading for Channel crossings in Kent.

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has more details here:

National Highways has warned of two miles of tailbacks in the lead up to the closed section of the M25.

A five-mile stretch of the motorway between junctions 10 and 11 was closed in both directions at 9pm on Friday and will remain inaccessible until 6am on Monday while a bridge is demolished and a new gantry installed.

Dozens of sightseers are converging on the point where the main diversion route for the weekend closure of the M25 crosses the deserted motorway.

Cars, trucks and coaches are being directed from Junction 10 northeast up the A3, but then go sharply left to head west on the A245 – which is carrying a heavy burden of traffic across the M25.

“It’s absolutely astonishing,” says Simon Vassallo, who has lived in the area for 35 years. He is out early “to stock up on provisions” ahead of the traffic building up.

Mr Vassallo told The Independent: “When we came across the bridge this morning, we just had to stop, take a few pictures and take in the marvel that is an empty M25.”

Another local man, Terry Craig from West Byfleet, is savouring the sight. “It’s quite extraordinary to see the motorway, all of these lanes, just shut off. It’s incredible. Apart from Covid, I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything quite like this.”

Jill Holland, also from West Byfleet, is out for a bike ride. “This is the main road between West Byfleet and everywhere else. Avoid us completely.”

“Stay home weekend”: that is the appropriate slogan between 15 and 18 March for motorists who normally use the southwest quadrant of the M25 motorway.

National Highways says the closure is “to demolish the Clearmount bridleway bridge and install a very large gantry”. It says: “Without a full closure of the M25 at this junction, it would be impossible to safely demolish the overbridges and install the new gantry.”

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has more details here:

The first planned daytime closure of the M25 could be a “nightmare”, a councillor fears as local residents and businesses along the diversion route brace for the impact.

Daryl Jordan, of Woking Borough Council, told the PA news agency the Byfleet Road, which is close to junction 10, had been “chock-a-block” on Friday afternoon.

He said residents will be “affected massivel”, adding: “It is pulling people apart. I mean, you know, when you work full-time and then you’re going to get home tonight from work thinking ‘I must fill the fridge up’ and you can’t even get into your own village.

“It’s going to be a nightmare. Just going down the road to get milk is going to be a problem … or picking up your dry cleaning.”

Stefan Russell from West Byfleet is up and about early to contend with the closure of the M25. His village is in the middle of the diversion route.

“My wife did the shopping yesterday because she knows that for the weekend she’s not going to be able to get out,” he said. “I’m going to take my son to a football match in Kent. So this is not a good day for me at all.

“I’m going to leave in about 45 minutes, once I’ve had this coffee and I’m going to go the A3 way and hope to God that the traffic isn’t built up already.”

Mr Russell says the weekend closure is “ridiculous”, adding: “It’s going to be pandemonium around here, and yeah, I just don’t think it’s very well planned.”

“Do it through the night. Just do it through the night because it’s going to be gridlocked later. I’ve got another football match to get to tomorrow in Cardiff. So again, I’m going to struggle to get out. I just think it’s crazy.”

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder reports:

Megan Goddard lives between Cobham and West Byfleet. She said: “I feel like the traffic is going to be even worse today, so it’s not great, but yeah. People need to get to places. I’m going to be travelling to work, and then I’m going to leave enough time to get home.

“So I’m prepared to sit in traffic for a couple of hours if I need to.”

Ricus Roets from Walton on Thames is on his way to play golf at Pyrford Golf Club – without his car.

“Today the M25 is closed and the the journey back would have been very, very tough. So I’ve taken the train from Walton to West Byfleet. And then I will get a lift with a friend to the golf club.

“People aren’t able to open their shops. People are going to lose business and that. But I mean, what’s the alternative?”

“If it’s to improve the motorways and make travel better, then I think it’s all good and it’s only one weekend of the year. And I think people could make other plans for this one weekend.”

Unfortunately another four weekend closures of the same stretch are closed this year.

Drivers have been urged not to use Satnavs while a five-mile stretch of the M25 is closed while a bridge is demolished and a new gantry is installed.

National Highways senior project manager Daniel Kittredge said using the technology could create “additional issues” on the motorway.

“If people move away from diversion routes that we prescribe, it creates additional issues in different parts of the road network,” he said.

“The majority of the time that will be local roads, so that really impacts residents in those particular areas.

That’s why we’re trying to encourage people to not follow the satnav. Stick on the prescribed diversion route. It’s going to be more suitable for your journey.”

Drivers are being urged to ignore satnavs to prevent causing gridlock during an “unprecedented” closure of the M25 this weekend.

National Highways issued the alert as it prepares to close a five-mile stretch of the motorway in Surrey from 9pm on Friday until 6am on Monday.

The company estimates that drivers who follow signs for diversion routes on A-roads will have an hour added to their usual journey times between junctions 10 and 11, which will be shut in both directions.