Best time of day to drive on the M25 round south of London?

Hi folks – those of you who live down south or are used to driving round London – any advice on the best time to drive round the M25 (south side) on Friday? Coming down on the M40 from Birmingham, off on to the M20 to Ashford.

I can either travel around 1-2pm or 7-8pm – not sure which time would it be better in terms of traffic? (Unfortunately late at night / early am isn’t an option)

Ta 🙂

Both times should be okay in that direction. It starts to quieten down around 6.30pm, but obviously it only takes one incident to bog up the whole road. Check Google maps traffic before you go as it will show you the timings. M4/M3 juncs will be a bit slow but should be clear after that.

Afternoon on a Friday, but to be honest, I’d go the other way. Clockwise is always quieter as it tends to be against the flow.

If you go clockwise then it’ll be quicker M5/M1 if that makes a difference at the Brum end. Usually quieter on the M25 that way but you risk a bottle neck at the bridge (and don’t forget to pay)

For going south side side I’d say not much in it but leaning towards the afternoon

1-2 pm. I used to commute that whole stretch for around 2 years. I’ve seen the m40 -m20 stretch backed up for miles before during Friday PM rush hour which in reality is 4pm until 8pm. Middle of the day will be far less likely to cause problems.

Fridays are fun and tend to build up a bit earlier… In the afternon I am often driving clockwise from J 5-9 and it can be pretty jammed in the other direction – so I am not sure I would go the other way round.

So much better since the toll booths went on the Bridge – make sure you are registered online for the automatic tolls though… probably you are already.

I would look on Google maps today and use the directions option to look at the timings, doing this at both the two times you are interested in.

Thanks folks – looks like clockwise might be best, so will aim to go that way.

Re tolls – what section is that payable on? I’m not registered online for any toll payment in the UK – anyone got a link?

EDIT – just found it – didn’t know there was a toll for the bridge / tunnel! Sorted now 🙂

Ta very much 🙂

The Dartford bridge is what you need to register to pay for…

Re Dartford – you can pre register – best solution

or pay after but make sure you do

If you’re travelling anti clockwise then the stretch by Heathrow gets very busy on a Friday afternoon from lunchtime onwards and is usually chaos by about 3pm.

Personally I’d be inclined to go around 7-8pm. I’ve done M4 rounded to the M23 quite a few times on a Friday evening at about this time and it’s always been pretty free flowing. Once you’re past the A3 junction its usually really quiet.

1-2 best of those two

On a Friday traffic could still be heavy even at 7. If you use a traffic app like waze or google today at those times you should get a feel