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Congestion is impacting several junctions of the M25 in west London after a vehicle broke down on the orbital motorway.

Two lanes have been closed between Junction 14 for Heathrow Airport and Junction 13 for Staines, however traffic is backing up beyond Junction 16 at Uxbridge of the anticlockwise carriageway.

The Highways Agency has listed the traffic as "not moving", while the vehicle, which is being dealt with.

The first reports of a broken down vehicle on the motorway were at 4pm on Monday (July 23), just as rush hour traffic is set to increase.

There is severe congestion on the M25 as rush hour begins

Traffic monitoring system Inrix says: "Two lanes closed and stop-start traffic due to broken down vehicle on M25 anticlockwise from J14 (Heathrow Terminal 4) to J13 (Staines). Congestion to J16 (M40 interchange).
"Lanes four and five (of five) have remained closed following a brief hold of traffic for a breakdown first reported in lanes one and two."

It is also being reported that the vehicle which broke down near Heathrow Airport is a horsebox.

Follow all the latest on this developing incident on our live blog below:

Every lane reopened

There are no longer any lane closures on the M25 around Junction 14.

However, Highways England still estimates the resumption of normal traffic could take another hour and a half.

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All lanes halted

Inrix is now reporting tha all traffic on the M25 has been halted while the broken down horsebox is dealt with.

Earlier Highways England tweeted that all the wheels were locked, complicating the shifting of the vehicle.

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Delays of one and a half hours

HIghways England is warning traffic delays of one and a half hours to travel through the congestion.

They estimate traffic conditions will return to normal at 7pm.

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The situation right now

At the moment, three lanes out of four are closed on the M25 from Junction 14 to Junction 13.

The traffic is still trailing back beyond Junction 16 for Uxbridge.

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Previous incident

The broken down horse box was first reported at around 4pm, but a tanker broke down at Junction 13 of the motorway just 80 minutes earlier.

The tanker has been moved to the hard shoulder while recovery is awaited.

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What caused the delays?

Highways England has tweeted that the delays were caused by a broken down horse box.

The tweet says: “Recovery has been requested as the vehicles brakes have locked and we can’t move it.”

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What is the situation?

After traffic was held, the M25 has now been reopened at the junction near Heathrow Airport after a attempts were made to move a broken down vehicle.

Delays stretch in the anticlockwise direction from Junction 16 for Uxbridge to Junction 12 for Staines.

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