M5 southbound between junctions 26 and 27 reopens after multi-vehicle fog crash
Delays remained above 50 minutes, with five miles of congestion, after recovery work ended between Wellington and Tiverton.
A multi-vehicle crash in thick fog halted all southbound M5 traffic between Wellington and Tiverton on Sunday evening, National Highways said, before every lane reopened later that night.
The agency said on X that emergency services responded between junction 26 at Wellington and junction 27 at Tiverton, where approaching drivers initially faced waits exceeding 45 minutes. One vehicle came to rest on its roof.
#M5 in #Devon has traffic stopped southbound between J26 #Wellington -J27 #Tiverton due to a multi-vehicle collision.
— National Highways: South-West (@HighwaysSWEST) November 8, 2026
Emergency services are on scene.
Delays in excess of 45 minutes on the approach.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured or how seriously. The exact vehicle count was not known.
The collision occurred near junction 27 at about 6pm, and the stopped traffic extended back to junction 26, the Wellington Weekly News reported.
The newspaper said up to eight vehicles were believed to be involved and that emergency crews treated casualties at the scene. It said vehicles were expected to wait for up to an hour before being diverted to other roads.
The Met Office had issued a yellow fog warning starting at 6pm Sunday. The agency had said the warning area was unlikely to extend south of Taunton.
The warning cited "difficult travel conditions and possible delays," Express.co.uk reported. It also quoted Facebook posts from motorists, including Natalie Crawshaw, who wrote that she encountered very thick fog in places on back roads from Tiverton to Cullompton.
"Not easy driving through it glad I chose back roads and not M5 this evening," Crawshaw wrote.
Jodie Louise Chapman, another Facebook user, wrote that many M5 drivers had used only daytime running lights that day, leaving the backs of their cars unlit. "People should try using their lights!" Chapman wrote.
National Highways later let traffic pass the crash site, although two of the three lanes stayed shut for recovery work. Approaching traffic then faced delays exceeding 30 minutes.
Final update: #M5 in #Devon southbound between J26 #Wellington -J27 #Tiverton.
— National Highways: South-West (@HighwaysSWEST) November 8, 2026
All lanes have reopened.
Recovery completed.
Delays in excess of 50 minutes on the approach with 5 miles of congestion.
The agency's final update said recovery had finished and every lane was open again. Delays remained above 50 minutes for approaching drivers, with congestion stretching five miles.
The Met Office warning runs until 11am Monday.
