Motorway
M25 traffic and collisions
The M25 is a motorway of 118.4 miles, from Kent to Thurrock. This page covers its traffic at 51 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.
- Traffic in 2025 6.3bn vehicle miles
- Average daily traffic 145,590 vehicles a day, both directions
- Busiest section 209,610 J13 to J14
- HGV share 11.4% of vehicle miles
- Traffic since 2019 −0.7% same count points
- Collisions, 2021 to 2025 2,302 7.5 per 100m vehicle miles
How busy is the M25?
On an average day in 2025, 145,590 vehicles passed each point on the M25, counting both directions. The busiest section is J13 to J14 (Surrey), with 209,610 a day; the quietest listed is J30 to J31, with 79,968.
Busiest sections, 2025
J13 to J14 carries 1.4 times the road’s average flow.
| Section | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| J13 to J14 Surrey · 1.9 mi · HGVs 8.7% | 209,610 |
| J15 to J16 Buckinghamshire · 5.2 mi · HGVs 11.0% | 208,946 |
| J14 to J15 Hillingdon, Slough · 2.0 mi · HGVs 7.0% | 208,483 |
| J12 to J13 Surrey, Windsor and Maidenhead · 3.1 mi · HGVs 7.4% | 192,857 |
| J17 to J18 Hertfordshire · 1.4 mi · HGVs 8.0% | 179,426 |
| J18 to J19 Hertfordshire · 2.6 mi · HGVs 8.4% | 170,422 |
| J16 to J17 Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire · 5.6 mi · HGVs 11.3% | 168,330 |
| J20 to J21 Hertfordshire · 2.9 mi · HGVs 8.8% | 167,629 |
| J11 to J12 Surrey · 2.2 mi · HGVs 8.2% | 159,696 |
| J10 to J11 Surrey · 4.8 mi · HGVs 8.2% | 158,592 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Route
Kent to Thurrock · 118.4 miles
M25 traffic and collisions by section
34 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 6 short link roads and spurs (3.2 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.
Show all 34 sections Tap a column heading to sort
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A2(T) to A282Kent | 85,302 | 8 |
| 2 | J2 to J3Kent | 131,275 | 116 |
| 3 | J3 to J4Kent | 118,527 | 54 |
| 4 | J4 to J5Kent | 105,608 | 37 |
| 5 | J5 to J6Kent, Surrey | 126,218 | 138 |
| 6 | J6 to J7Surrey | 143,643 | 40 |
| 7 | J7 to J8Surrey | 154,240 | 53 |
| 8 | J8 to J9Surrey | 152,713 | 117 |
| 9 | At J9Surrey | 126,677 | 20 |
| 10 | J9 to J10Surrey | 142,368 | 129 |
| 11 | J10 to J11Surrey | 158,592 | 158 |
| 12 | J11 to J12Surrey | 159,696 | 84 |
| 13 | J12 to J13Surrey, Windsor and Maidenhead | 192,857 | 91 |
| 14 | J13 to J14Surrey | 209,610 | 52 |
| 15 | J14 to J15Hillingdon, Slough | 208,483 | 62 |
| 16 | J15 to J16Buckinghamshire | 208,946 | 65 |
| 17 | J16 to J17Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire | 168,330 | 96 |
| 18 | J17 to J18Hertfordshire | 179,426 | 42 |
| 19 | J18 to J19Hertfordshire | 170,422 | 26 |
| 20 | J19 to J20Hertfordshire | 145,523 | 21 |
| 21 | J20 to J21Hertfordshire | 167,629 | 54 |
| 22 | J21 to J21AHertfordshire | 150,822 | 19 |
| 23 | J21A to J22Hertfordshire | 145,015 | 58 |
| 24 | J22 to J23Hertfordshire | 137,456 | 37 |
| 25 | J23 to J24Hertfordshire | 148,233 | 73 |
| 26 | J24 to J25Hertfordshire, Enfield | 158,462 | 112 |
| 27 | J25 to M25 Slip Road (Eastbound)Enfield, Essex | 134,286 | 87 |
| 28 | M25 Slip Road (Eastbound) to J26Essex | 118,232 | 5 |
| 29 | J26 to Where M25 Dual CWY joins westbound slip roadEssex | 113,605 | 4 |
| 30 | J26 to J27Essex | 119,980 | 102 |
| 31 | J27 to J28Essex, Havering | 143,690 | 136 |
| 32 | J28 to J29Havering, Essex | 134,752 | 69 |
| 33 | J29 to J30Havering, Thurrock | 131,303 | 85 |
| 34 | J30 to J31Thurrock | 79,968 | 13 |
Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the M25 as the first road, placed on the nearest section by their recorded position; rates (per 100 million vehicle miles) are shown for sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more.
M25 traffic by vehicle type
Cars and taxis make up 67.6% of the vehicle miles on the M25. HGVs account for 11.4%, rising to 20.9% on J29 to J30.
Vehicle mix, 2025
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
HGV share of traffic
| Year | HGV share |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 12.1% |
| 2001 | 11.8% |
| 2002 | 11.8% |
| 2003 | 12.1% |
| 2004 | 12.3% |
| 2005 | 12.3% |
| 2006 | 12.0% |
| 2007 | 12.0% |
| 2008 | 11.7% |
| 2009 | 10.8% |
| 2010 | 11.5% |
| 2011 | 11.0% |
| 2012 | 10.2% |
| 2013 | 10.7% |
| 2014 | 10.9% |
| 2015 | 11.5% |
| 2016 | 11.4% |
| 2017 | 11.4% |
| 2018 | 11.6% |
| 2019 | 11.5% |
| 2020 | 14.5% |
| 2021 | 13.8% |
| 2022 | 12.3% |
| 2023 | 11.9% |
| 2024 | 11.8% |
| 2025 | 11.4% |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
M25 traffic trend
Traffic on the M25 came to 6.29 billion vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is down 0.7% on 2019, before the pandemic, and up 0.8% on 2015.
Vehicle miles a year
Like for like, traffic is up 15.4% on 2000.
| Year | Vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.4bn |
| 2001 | 5.6bn |
| 2002 | 5.6bn |
| 2003 | 5.4bn |
| 2004 | 5.4bn |
| 2005 | 5.4bn |
| 2006 | 5.5bn |
| 2007 | 5.6bn |
| 2008 | 5.6bn |
| 2009 | 5.6bn |
| 2010 | 5.5bn |
| 2011 | 5.6bn |
| 2012 | 5.8bn |
| 2013 | 5.7bn |
| 2014 | 5.9bn |
| 2015 | 6.2bn |
| 2016 | 6.3bn |
| 2017 | 6.3bn |
| 2018 | 6.3bn |
| 2019 | 6.3bn |
| 2020 | 5.2bn |
| 2021 | 5.5bn |
| 2022 | 6.3bn |
| 2023 | 6.4bn |
| 2024 | 6.2bn |
| 2025 | 6.3bn |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
Average daily flow
| Year | Vehicles a day |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 126,771 |
| 2001 | 130,041 |
| 2002 | 131,779 |
| 2003 | 126,224 |
| 2004 | 126,758 |
| 2005 | 125,762 |
| 2006 | 128,106 |
| 2007 | 130,575 |
| 2008 | 131,241 |
| 2009 | 131,554 |
| 2010 | 128,604 |
| 2011 | 129,944 |
| 2012 | 134,591 |
| 2013 | 134,088 |
| 2014 | 138,286 |
| 2015 | 145,147 |
| 2016 | 146,259 |
| 2017 | 146,772 |
| 2018 | 147,934 |
| 2019 | 148,211 |
| 2020 | 122,408 |
| 2021 | 128,763 |
| 2022 | 145,949 |
| 2023 | 149,095 |
| 2024 | 143,638 |
| 2025 | 145,590 |
Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated
The chart counts the whole road as it was each year, so new or renumbered stretches move it. The percentage changes compare only count points present in both years. In 2025, 41 of the 51 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.
M25 collisions
Police recorded 2,302 collisions with the M25 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 371 of them fatal or serious, including 25 fatal. That is 7.5 per 100 million vehicle miles, higher than the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 3.9 a year for each mile of road.
Reported collisions by year
Down 2.6% from 2021 to 2025.
| Year | Slight | Fatal or serious |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 398 | 58 |
| 2022 | 413 | 65 |
| 2023 | 419 | 85 |
| 2024 | 346 | 74 |
| 2025 | 357 | 87 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
Sections with the highest collision rates
Per 100 million vehicle miles, 2021 to 2025. Sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more collisions.
| Section | Per 100m vehicle miles |
|---|---|
| J30 to J31 Thurrock · 13 collisions | 18.5 |
| J2 to J3 Kent · 116 collisions | 15.6 |
| J26 to J27 Essex · 102 collisions | 12.4 |
| J11 to J12 Surrey · 84 collisions | 12.3 |
| J21 to J21A Hertfordshire · 19 collisions | 12.2 |
| J25 to M25 Slip Road (Eastbound) Enfield, Essex · 87 collisions | 11.4 |
| J10 to J11 Surrey · 158 collisions | 11.0 |
| J28 to J29 Havering, Essex · 69 collisions | 10.5 |
Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated
A further 134 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M25 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. 98.3% of the collisions could be placed on a section. How we count collisions
Council areas on the M25
In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.
- Kent
- Surrey
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Hillingdon
- Slough
- Buckinghamshire
- Hertfordshire
- Enfield
- Essex
- Havering
- Thurrock
Planned closures on the M25 in England
National Highways has 118 planned closures on the M25 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, 117 of them starting in that period. 48 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 113 start between 7pm and 6am.
-
Lane or slip M25 Clockwise Jct 23 to Jct 24 Hard Shoulder Closure
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Carriageway M25 Clockwise Jct 20 to Jct 21A carriageway closure
-
Lane or slip M25 Clockwise Jct 19 to Jct 20 Lane 4,3,2 closure
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Carriageway A21 Southbound Chipstead Eastbound exit slip road closure
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Carriageway A2 Westbound Darenth Interchange exit slip road closure
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Lane or slip M25 Clockwise Jct 27 to M11 Northbound Jct 6 link road lane 2 closure
-
Lane or slip M25 Clockwise Jct 26 to Jct 27 lane 1,2 closure
-
Lane or slip M4 Eastbound Jct 5 to Jct 4B lane 1,2 closure
110 more planned closures in this period are not shown.
Planned closures only: National Highways can cancel or change them, and closures caused by incidents are not shown. Council roads in England are not covered. Roadworks and closures across the UK
Source:National Highways 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 Updated
Data sources and methodology
| Figures | Source | Period | Records | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic counts and vehicle mix | Road traffic statistics (AADF by count point) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2000 to 2025 | 51 count points in 2025 | 15 September 2026 |
| Reported collisions | Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport Derived statistics UK Motoring | 2021 to 2025 | 2,302 reported collisions | 15 September 2026 |
| Planned closures | Transport Data Feeds (DATEX II) National Highways | 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 | 2,304 planned closure schemes | 16 September 2026 |
- Annual average daily flow (AADF) is the average number of vehicles passing a point on a typical day of the year, both directions combined.
- Vehicle miles are AADF multiplied by link length and 365, summed over every count point link on the road.
- Sections join count point links between junctions, using the link lines in DfT’s major road database.
- STATS19 covers personal injury collisions reported to the police. Damage-only collisions are not included, and not every injury collision is reported.
- Serious and slight figures are DfT’s adjusted estimates, which allow for police forces moving to injury-based reporting.
- Counts of one or two collisions below Great Britain level are shown as “fewer than 3”.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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