M56

M56 Traffic on Wednesdays

How the M56 behaves on a typical Wednesday, from our own record of National Highways’ live speeds. Other days: Mondays · Tuesdays · Thursdays · Fridays · Saturdays · Sundays.

M56 on Wednesdays: Wednesday 21 October 2026

How traffic on the M56 has moved hour by hour, compared with the same day a week earlier (Wednesday 14 October 2026) and with National Highways’ usual speed for each hour. Updated every five minutes.

Speeds are colour-coded the same way as our live M56 speed flow map: 50 mph and over, 30 mph to 49 mph, under 30 mph. The colour shows the speed actually achieved; the usual speed is shown in bold beside it.

15:00 (3pm)

Eastbound · slowest stretch

J2–J3 12 mph, against a usual 38 mph.

16:00 (4pm)

Westbound · slowest hour against usual

average 55 mph across the road, against a usual 59 mph; the same hour last week 57 mph.

Westbound · slowest stretch

J4–J5 25 mph, against a usual 56 mph.

Eastbound · slowest hour against usual

average 39 mph across the road, against a usual 54 mph; the same hour last week 55 mph.

Across the day

Westbound · stop-start

J2–J3 traffic below 15 mph somewhere on this stretch for about 10 minutes, between 17:00 (5pm) and 18:00 (6pm).

Westbound · against last week

about the same as last Wednesday: average 61 mph over 24 hours, against 63 mph in the same hours.

Eastbound · stop-start

J2–J3 traffic below 15 mph somewhere on this stretch for about 55 minutes, between 09:00 (9am) and 19:00 (7pm).

Eastbound · against last week

about the same as last Wednesday: average 58 mph over 24 hours, against 59 mph in the same hours.

Westbound: average speed by hour

Eastbound: average speed by hour

Wednesday 21 October 2026Wednesday 14 October 2026usual speed (National Highways)

How we worked this out. We regularly take National Highways’ live speed data for each stretch of the M56 and keep the average for each hour. These figures cover 24 hours of Wednesday 21 October 2026 and 24 of Wednesday 14 October 2026. Hours are UK time. A speed shown for the whole road is the average across its stretches, so a short queue may not move it much: the cards point to the slowest stretches.

© 2026 Corporate Ace Limited. The analysis, wording, charts and conclusions on this page are our own, produced from the live information we collect, including National Highways’ data. You may not copy, republish or reproduce them on any website, app, broadcast or publication without our prior written permission, which must set out how and where they will be used. To ask, please contact us. Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds.