Thick black smoke billowed across the M25 in Surrey on Friday afternoon after a coach carrying passengers burst into flames on the anticlockwise carriageway between junctions J9 at Leatherhead and J8 at Redhill. All passengers managed to escape the vehicle safely, but the fire, which erupted during peak rush hour when temperatures neared 30C, triggered 12-mile tailbacks and delays of up to two hours.
Four fire engines and a water carrier from Surrey Fire and Rescue Service were scrambled to the scene, along with police and ambulance crews. “We are dealing with a coach fire on the M25, junction 9 to 8, Leatherhead,” the service said. “Everyone is accounted for. The stretch of road from junctions 9 to 8, anticlockwise, is currently closed while we deal with the incident. Please avoid the area where possible.”
“M25 coach fire causes 12-mile queues and two-hour delays; all passengers evacuated safely.”
National Highways reported that traffic was stopped on the approach, with 58 minutes of delays and eight miles of congestion initially. But as the blaze was tackled, queues lengthened. By 5.56pm, lanes three and four were reopened, but lanes one and two remained closed so emergency crews could complete final safety checks and deal with a fuel spillage.
“On the anticlockwise carriageway we are preparing to release traffic,” National Highways said in a statement. “Lanes 1 and 2 will remain closed, with the closure extending beyond the incident scene. Please allow us a little more time to complete our final safety checks before reopening Lanes 3 and 4. Once traffic is released, the time it takes for vehicles to begin moving will depend on your position within the queue, so some delays may continue while congestion clears.”
By 7.36pm delays had reached two hours, with two lanes still closed. The incident happened as Surrey, Greater London and the South East were under an amber heat health alert, with the dry, hot conditions increasing the risk of wildfires. At 11.25pm, traffic was easing to delays of around 15 minutes and just one mile of congestion, with one lane still closed for the fuel spillage clean-up.