‘Good progress’ made on M25 works in Surrey as motorway closed – live

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.”

A leading railway figure has offered some advice to travellers who risk being caught up in the M25 closure over the weekend, Simon Calder writes.

Mark Hopwood, managing director of Great Western Railway, told The Independent’s daily travel podcast: “There isn’t, sadly, a railway equivalent of the M25 so we can’t necessarily replicate all the journeys – but actually one of the great things in London at Farringdon is you can interchange from the Elizabeth Line to Thameslink in about 45 seconds.”

The central London station of Farringdon will allow anyone coming from Heathrow airport or Reading on the Elizabeth Line to change to a Thameslink train to Gatwick airport, Brighton, Luton airport or Cambridge.

“I think people will find that they could maybe make their journey by train and do it in a decent amount of time,” the GWR boss said.

“If you’ve ended up on one of those strange flight itineraries where you need to get from Heathrow to Gatwick, you can do that quite easily.”

Mr Hopwood was speaking at the unveiling of a revolutionary new battery-powered train for a line in west London.

National Highways project lead Jonathan Wade has warned that how well the area copes with the M25 closure will partly depend on whether drivers stick to official diversions.

He told the PA news agency: “How many people are going to take the initiative and try and use satnavs? There’s probably a greater risk of congestion by people just doing their own thing and thinking they can perhaps beat the signs and find a shorter or quicker route.

“That will cause further congestion on some of the key junctions so please avoid doing that if at all possible.”