M25 closure – live: ‘Good progress’ made on motorway works in Surrey as five-mile stretch closed to drivers

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder reports:

“By Byfleet station we emerged from the pine trees, and found the country calm and peaceful under the morning sunlight.”

I recalled that line – from H G Wells’s War of the Worlds – at West Byfleet station in Surrey as I emerged from the first train of the morning from London on Saturday.

In this leafy corner of the home counties, all was “calm and peaceful under the morning sunlight” – until the first Bulgarian truck came thundering through. The lorry had been diverted from its planned trajectory by the unprecedented closure of a stretch of the M25 orbital motorway around London. And the A245 between Byfleet and West Byfleet has become part of a diversionary route – as well, I was to discover, as a temporary tourist attraction:

Amanda Boote, of Woking Borough Council, has told the PA news agency that traffic along the diversion route through the towns of Byfleet, West Byfleet, Woking and Ottershaw was not as bad as feared.

Congestion stretched for two miles on Saturday morning, according to National Highways South-East, and the estimated average journey time through the 11.5-mile diversion route was 25 minutes.

NHSE said on Saturday it had made good progress during the first night of work.

Drivers have been warned to expect delays to their journeys throughout the day.

Good progress has been made on the M25 in Surrey, where engineers are bringing down a bridge during the motorway’s first ever planned daytime closure.

A five-mile stretch between junctions 10 and 11 has been shut in both directions since 9pm on Friday and won’t reopen until 6am on Monday.

“We made good progress during the first night of the M25 J10 to J11 weekend closure,” NHSE posted on X at 9.05pm on Saturday.

“We will again work throughout the night to continue the demolition and gantry installations. There are minimal delays in the area at this time.”

People have flocked to an unlikely spot to take selfies as they gaze over an eerily quiet M25.

A five-mile stretch of the road has been shut until Monday while a bridge is demolished and a new gantry is installed.

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.”

RAC breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson said: “With the M25 closures and the Easter getaway both falling in March, it could be a month of double traffic trouble for drivers trying to get around London or access Gatwick and Heathrow.

“Despite fair warning, the reality is most holidaymakers seeking to use either airport will have booked their trips months ago and will have to leave a lot more time to get there – not least because the most obvious diversion routes are likely to get extremely congested.

“If you do plan to drive between the 15th and 18th, we recommend starting your car to test its battery health well in advance of travelling and remembering FORCES to check the Fuel, Oil, Rubber, Coolant, Electrics and Screen wash before making any long journey.”