M5/M6 Birmingham - Travel on Sat night or Sun morning?

[superhans88]

Planning to break up a long journey south to Plymouth at the start of Dec by stopping over around the Birmingham area on the night of Sat 4th. I can't decide exactly how far to push it on the Sat night though. Is that stretch between Stafford & say, Worcester better to cover at circa 9/10pm on a Sat night or 8/9am on a Sunday morning?

I'm travelling from Barrow in the NW so my thought was to essentially get a 'head start' on the Saturday. Anyone more familiar with these roads than me? All I know is they're a nightmare but don't know how early they gum up on a Sunday..

Cheers

[Canon_Fodder]

It'll be fine at either of those times. I wouldn't leave it later than 10pm though as sometimes the overnight closures can kick in at 10

[DaveH23]

Personally I'd do that in 1 journey, regularly used to do longer travelling from Northumberland to the South Coast.

[superhans88]

DaveH23 said:

Personally I'd do that in 1 journey, regularly used to do longer travelling from Northumberland to the South Coast.

I've done it in one bite before. Trouble is no matter what time I leave Barrow/Scotland on a Sunday morning, I'm hitting Brum/M5 when the traffic's slow/heavy. Trying to insert a strategic stopover to get the roads as quiet as possible. Makes a big difference to average speeds/tiredness over that distance.

[leggly]

I leave the north coast near Thurso to travel to Gloucester on a fairly regular basis at the moment. I leave up here at around 7pm, it gets me through most areas before or after road closures or traffic becoming an issue. It takes around ten hours with one stop for fuel.

[Regbuser]

Just bear in mind that J10 has ongoing night time works, which often means it's closed, with traffic tailing back as everyone has to get off then on again. And it's not always adequately stated beforehand - best to check highways England - or use the M6 toll instead.

[speedking31]

Regbuser said:

Just bear in mind that J10 has ongoing night time works, which often means it's closed, with traffic tailing back as everyone has to get off then on again. And it's not always adequately stated beforehand - best to check highways England - or use the M6 toll instead.

National Highways now, although its URL is still https://highwaysengland.co.uk/.