M56 Traffic is a free, independent website for drivers on the M56. It brings together the live traffic news, roadworks, closures, overhead signs and speeds for the M56 in one place, checked every five minutes, so you can see what is happening before you set off.

About the M56

The M56 starts in the south of Manchester, where it leaves the M60 near Cheadle, and runs past Manchester Airport and across north Cheshire to the M53 near Chester, carrying traffic on towards North Wales. It is the road to the airport, to the southern edge of Warrington, to Runcorn and to the Wirral, and at junction 9 it crosses the M6 at the Lymm interchange.

What you will find here

As well as the latest M56 traffic news, every M56 junction has its own page, with the roads and places it serves, the distances to the junctions either side, the injury collisions recorded nearby and a live speed strip. The M56 traffic statistics page sets out how busy the M56 is, year by year, and when collisions happen.

Our other sites

This site is part of the UK Traffic News network. For the roads the M56 meets, see M60 Traffic, M6 Traffic, M62 Traffic.

Who Publishes M56 Traffic

M56 Traffic is published by Corporate Ace Limited, a company registered in England and Wales.

• Company number: 04435502
• Registered office: 24 St. Marys Way, Burghfield Common, Reading, England, RG7 3YR
• VAT number: GB863826885
• Registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office: Z1734656
• Email:

Where Our Data Comes From

Live traffic information on this site is powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds. Traffic counts come from the Department for Transport’s road traffic statistics for 2025, published 20 May 2026, and collision figures from its road safety data (STATS19) for 2024 and 2025. How we present and explain those figures is our own work.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.