M25 chaos: Motorists to face hours of delays amid serious vehicle collision on major motorway

The incident occurred near Waltham Cross and Waltham Abbey, affecting traffic through the Holmesdale Tunnel area.

Emergency crews and traffic officers are currently on the scene after the collision, which initially brought both directions of the busy orbital motorway to a standstill.

The anti-clockwise lanes have since resumed normal flow, but the clockwise section continues to be blocked while police conduct their investigation into the circumstances of the crash.

Motorists now face severe disruption with delays of roughly 90 minutes as well as miles of congestion.

But despite the anti-clockwise lanes reopening, residual delays of around an hour persist in that direction as traffic flow normalises.

Vehicles trapped within the clockwise closure are being gradually guided past the crash site using the fourth lane.

National Highways has warned that the clockwise carriageway will stay shut for several hours to allow officers to complete their collision investigation.

The blockage has created approximately six miles of stationary traffic extending back to junction 24.

Drivers are now being directed to exit at junction 25 and follow a designated diversion marked by hollow triangle symbols on road signage.

The alternative route takes motorists onto the A10, heading south towards London, and then onto the A406 North Circular Road, travelling east.

From there, traffic should continue on the A406 until reaching the M11, where drivers can join the motorway northbound at junction 4.

The diversion concludes at junction 6 of the M11, where motorists can rejoin the M25 to continue their journeys.

National Highways has advised affected travellers to factor in significant additional journey time or consider postponing non-essential trips.

Authorities did confirm that vehicles caught behind the closure are being systematically turned around and directed back through the queue's rear.

Updating drivers, National Highways shared: "Please be aware there are 90-minute delays above normal journey time on approach to the M25 clockwise closure between J25 & J26 HolmesdaleTunnel.

"There are also 60 minutes anti-clockwise, but these should start to reduce now that all lanes are open. Allow extra travel time."

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We were called at 8.33am today (October 29) to reports of a road traffic collision on the M25, Waltham Cross. We sent an ambulance crew and an incident response officer to the scene.

"We treated two people and took one patient to the hospital as a priority. The other patient was taken to the hospital by East Anglian Air Ambulance."