M25 reopens after bridge demolition saw five-mile stretch closed

The M25 in Surrey has reopened after the first planned daytime closure of the motorway.

A five-mile stretch between junctions 10 and 11 closed in both directions at 9pm on Friday and was due to open at around 6am on Monday.

However, following works to demolish a bridge and install a huge gantry, it reopened at just after 10pm on Sunday.

The National Highways South-East said on X: “We’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone for your patience and following our travel advice.”

The closure had prompted concerns that thousands of drivers would be stuck in gridlocked traffic over the weekend.

There had been some build-up, with congestion stretching two miles at one point, but traffic along the new route through the towns of Byfleet, West Byfleet, Woking and Ottershaw was not as bad as feared.

Amanda Boote, of Woking Borough Council, told the PA news agency: “It’s actually been as lot better than we expected, it’s not gridlocked in the way that we thought it would be.”

It was the first planned daytime closure of the M25 – which encircles London – since it opened in 1986.

More from Sky News:
Police appeal 15 years after disappearance of Claudia Lawrence
Holocaust survivor Henry Wuga dies aged 100
Flying taxis could take off in two years

The M25 normally carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles in each direction every hour from 10am until 9pm at weekends between junctions nine and 11.

Four more daytime closures of the M25 will take place up to September.

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