Drivers heading for the M25 this week face four nights of overnight closures, with stretches of London’s orbital motorway and a string of slip roads shut for planned roadworks.
The closures run from Monday night through to Friday morning, and every one of them is scheduled between 10pm and 5.30am. Both carriageways are affected, along with entry and exit slip roads at several junctions.
The works are part of National Highways’ regular overnight roadworks programme to maintain and improve the motorway network. The schedule is subject to change at short notice, so drivers are advised to check their route before setting off and to allow extra time.
Night by night
Seven closures are scheduled overnight from Monday into Tuesday, October 27. A further seven are planned overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday, October 28, and seven more overnight from Wednesday into Thursday, October 29.
Thursday night into Friday, October 30, sees the highest number of closures this week, with eight scheduled. Added together, that is 29 closures across the four nights.
Stretches shut on all four nights
Several stretches of the motorway are scheduled to be affected on every one of the four nights. They are:
- the clockwise carriageway between junctions 23 and 25, including the slip road;
- the clockwise entry slip road at junction 14, near Heathrow;
- the clockwise carriageway between junctions 2 and 3, near the Dartford Crossing;
- the clockwise carriageway between junctions 11 and 12;
- the anticlockwise carriageway, link road and entry and exit slip roads at junction 28 — although the published listing does not specify the full extent of that closure.
Further closures are listed at other points during the week, including the clockwise exit slip roads at junctions 19, 6 and 29, the clockwise carriageway between junctions 8 and 9, the anticlockwise carriageway and link road at junction 21A, and the anticlockwise entry slip road at junction 9.
Drivers travelling near Heathrow Airport, the Dartford Crossing and other major motorway connections are advised to check whether the planned restrictions affect their journeys.
Because the same stretches recur on all four nights, drivers using the motorway on more than one evening this week should expect the same restrictions to be in place again the next night, with the same 10pm start and 5.30am finish.
Checking before you travel
Motorists can check the latest information about planned closures, traffic conditions and potential delays through the National Highways road closure report, and are advised to follow signed diversion routes where closures are in place.
The information is correct at the time of publication but is subject to change at short notice.
Not the Heathrow weekend closure
This week’s overnight programme is separate from the bigger weekend closure already announced for the M25 around Heathrow. That closure, between junctions 15 and 14, was postponed from its original October 24–25 dates and is now scheduled from 8pm on Saturday, October 31, to 10am on Sunday, November 1. Drivers planning a weekend trip should not confuse the two — this week’s closures are overnight-only, while the Halloween weekend closure is a full weekend shutdown of that stretch.
The Dartford Crossing itself has already had a disrupted Monday. Two lanes were closed at the Dartford Tunnel anticlockwise in the morning, before traffic was held for a crash between junctions 3 and 2; Kent Police later confirmed no injuries and said the road was clear by 11.37am.
Half-term travel
The closures land in half-term week, when many families are on the move and rail alternatives are also disrupted overnight. Bromley passengers face late-night Southeastern changes, with diversions and replacement buses for engineering work, while Southern late-night services to East Grinstead and Uckfield are replaced by buses on affected routes. Anyone travelling late at night this week should check both road and rail before setting off.
