For journalists, researchers and anyone quoting a figure
9 figures, each measured rather than estimated and linked to the page that shows how.
07:00 to 09:00
England’s weekday morning rush hour; the evening rush runs 16:00 to 18:00. At 08:00, 14 of 35 measured roads are in their own morning rush.
Source: National Highways roadside sensors, between 1 May 2026 and 15 June 2026. How it is measured
M18
The road that slows furthest below its own normal speed: 36% below at its worst hour, Friday 15:00, about 44 mph.
Source: National Highways roadside sensors, between 1 May 2026 and 15 June 2026. How it is measured
84%
below normal speed at England’s slowest motorway spot, the M25 about 700 m from junction 14, Poyle, in Slough, at 16:00 on an average weekday (about 10 mph).
Source: National Highways roadside sensors, between 1 May 2026 and 15 June 2026. How it is measured
213,000
vehicles a day on England’s busiest measured stretch, the M25 near J14, both directions, 2025 average.
Source: Department for Transport road traffic statistics, 2025. How it is measured
144,000
vehicles a day on a typical stretch of the M25, the busiest of the 41 roads measured. The highest share of lorries is on the M180, at 25%.
Source: Department for Transport road traffic statistics, 2025. How it is measured
13% less
daytime traffic on a typical road on a spring or summer bank holiday than on a normal day of the same weekday (5 bank holidays, August 2025 to May 2026).
Source: National Highways roadside sensors, measured on each day. How it is measured
57% less
daytime traffic on Thursday 25 December 2025 than a normal Thursday. The getaway days before it carried about normal traffic; the rush moved into the middle of the day.
Source: National Highways roadside sensors, measured on each day. How it is measured
44
roadworks schemes lasting a week or more are open on 33 roads, with the end date National Highways has scheduled for each.
Source: National Highways planned roadworks feed, refreshed every few hours. How it is measured
417
roadside sensors on 41 motorways and major A roads in England are behind every speed figure here, measured between 1 May 2026 and 15 June 2026.
Source: National Highways WebTRIS. How it is measured
You are welcome to quote any figure here. Please credit “besttimetodrive.co.uk, from National Highways data” and link to the page the figure comes from. Speed figures are typical patterns from the sensor archive, not live traffic. Sensor data: Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds, Open Government Licence v3.0. Vehicle counts: Department for Transport road traffic statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. The full method is on how these figures are measured.