M25 closure will cause ‘carnage’ in villages on diversion route this weekend

Britain’s busiest motorway will be rerouted through three Surrey villages for nearly 72 hours

The M25, approaching Junction 10, where traffic will be diverted this weekend (Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)

The partial closure of the M25 in both directions will cause ‘carnage’ in Surrey this weekend as traffic is diverted between Junction 10 and Junction 11 of Britiain’s busiest motorway.

From 9pm on Friday 15 March to 6am on Monday 18 March, traffic will be diverted off a five-mile stretch of the M25 to enable the demolition of a bridge and the installation of a new gantry. It is the first time since the M25 was opened in 1986 that there has been a full closure of all lanes.

National Highways have asked drivers to avoid the area during the closure. But with 5,000 vehicles per hour typically passing between Junctions 10 and 11 at weekends, local residents and business owners are anticipating standstill traffic and sleepless nights.

Sophie Trippit, a cafe worker based in Byfleet, one of the villages on the 11-mile diversion route, told Yahoo News UK: “It’ll be carnage. I’m not planning on going anywhere. I’m lucky to be able to walk to work, and that’s what I’ve told my family to do. It’s not going to be fun.”

Many residents of Byfleet, as well as those in neighbouring Sheerwater, Ottershaw and Woodham, are abandoning weekend plans, worried about being unable to return home.

Elizabeth Lancemen, a home-based massage and beauty therapist, told Yahoo News UK that her son would have to miss football and a kids club, both of which would be impossible to get to. “If you can’t walk somewhere this weekend, don’t go,” she said.

Local businesses, meanwhile, are seeing cancellations. “It’s going to be majorly quiet,” said Charlotte Layton, who works at a riding school just off Junction 10.

Drivers using the M25 this weekend are being urged to stick to the official diversions rather than follow their own sat navs.

National Highways project lead Jonathan Wade said: “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.”

Where is the diversion route

A map of the M25 Closure diversion routes (PA Wire)

The 11-mile diversion route will be the same in both directions.

Westbound, from Junction 10:

• A3 north to Painshill Junction
• A245 towards Woking
• A320 to M25 Junction 11

Eastbound, from Junction 11:

• A320 south towards Woking
• A245 towards Byfleet and Painshill junction
• A3 south to M25 Junction 10

Four more daytime closures of the motorway will take place up to September.

The project, due to be completed in summer 2025, will increase the number of lanes and make it easier to enter and exit the M25 at junction 10, which is one of the UK’s busiest and most dangerous motorway junctions.