Huge 70-minute delays on M62 in West Yorkshire after vehicle fire following loose sheep chaos
Drivers are facing delays of 70 minutes currently ⚠️
It has been quite the morning of disruption on the M62 in West Yorkshire.
Drivers continue to face huge delays after multiple incidents, including loose sheep causing chaos and long queues heading towards Leeds earlier. A vehicle fire on the westbound side is causing further traffic for those travelling towards Manchester.
Highways England warned earlier that the M62 was shut eastbound after sheep wandered onto the carriageway. In a post on social media, the agency said: “The #M62 is closed eastbound in #WestYorkshire between J22-J24 whilst the sheep are secured and removed from the motorway safely.
“There are delays in excess of 45 minutes on the approach with 4 miles of congestion.”
The motorway was reopened eastbound heading towards Leeds just after 9am with the traffic taking a while to clear.
However, drivers continue to face disruption on the westbound carriageway with huge waits of around 70 minutes - at the time of writing. Multiple lanes have been shut between junction 22 and 23.
Highways England explained: “2 lanes (of 3) closed on #M62 westbound near #Huddersfield between J23 and J22 due to a vehicle fire.
“Traffic was temporarily held whilst the blaze was extinguished by @WYFRS however the fire has since re-ignited.
“Current delays of 60 mins and 5 miles of congestion on the approach.”
It later added in an update: “Update 3 for the #M62 in #WestYorkshire between J22-J23.
“Lane 2 has reopened whilst lane 1 remains closed for recovery of the van involved in the fire.
“Current delays of 70 mins and 7 miles of congestion on the approach.”