The M6 remained closed in both directions on Monday near the Warwickshire and Leicestershire border after a lorry crashed into the central reservation barrier and overturned, bringing a major stretch of motorway to a halt between junction one near Rugby and the Catthorpe interchange.
The crash happened shortly before 17:00 BST on Sunday, and National Highways said all emergency services, including the air ambulance, were at the scene while highways officers helped with traffic management. For drivers caught in the shutdown, that meant a long wait on one of the country’s busiest routes, with traffic forced onto diversion routes on the A14 westbound, the M1 northbound and the M6 southbound.
That is why the closure is still drawing attention today: the road is used by drivers moving across the Midlands, and the blockage was still disrupting journeys hours after the collision. National Highways told motorists to allow extra journey time if the incident affected their plans and said they may wish to re-route or even delay their journey. The warning was blunt because the motorway was not a quick clear-up.
By Monday, police investigation and recovery were still under way because of the extent of the damage, and National Highways said it was still unable to reopen the road. Officers were trying to relieve congestion by turning vehicles around from the rear of the queue and helping motorists leave the affected area as safely and efficiently as possible, but the scale of the incident meant those efforts had not yet been enough to restore normal traffic flow.
The unanswered question is now the one drivers care about most: when the M6 will reopen. With no reopening time confirmed and recovery still ongoing, anyone planning to use the motorway near Rugby or the Catthorpe interchange has to assume the closure will continue until the damage is made safe.
