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What to Do If You Break Down on the M25

By Axi Recovery October 29, 2026IconBreakdown Safety

If your car breaks down on the M25, try to leave at the next junction or service area. If you can’t, move into the left lane and stop in an emergency area, a lay-by or on the hard shoulder, switch on your hazard lights, and get out on the left side only if it is safe. If you can’t get out safely, stay in the car with your seat belt on and call 999.

That is the short version of the official advice from the Highway Code (rules 275 to 278) and National Highways. Below is what each step means in practice on the M25 around Essex, East London and Kent.

1. Get off the motorway if you can

As soon as a warning light comes on or the car feels wrong, aim for the next exit or a service area. The Highway Code says the safest place to stop is a location designed for parking. On the M25 near us that could be a service area such as Thurrock, or simply the next junction, where you can pull into a side road.

National Highways is clear: “Do not stop in a live lane unless absolutely necessary.”

2. If you can’t reach an exit, go left

Move into the left-hand lane and stop in the safest place you can reach:

  • an emergency area, marked by blue signs with an orange SOS telephone symbol
  • a lay-by
  • the hard shoulder, where there is one

Stop as far to the left as you can, with your wheels turned to the left, and switch on your hazard lights. The Highway Code notes that hard shoulders give less protection than other places of relative safety, so use an emergency area or service area if one is within reach.

Some stretches have no hard shoulder at all. If that is where you are, follow our guide to breaking down on a smart motorway. If it is dark, see how to stay safe when you break down at night.

3. Get yourself safe

  • If it is safe, get out by the left-hand door, away from the traffic, and take your passengers with you.
  • Wait behind the barrier, well back from the carriageway.
  • Don’t go back to the vehicle and don’t try to repair it.
  • Don’t put out a warning triangle. The Highway Code says never to use them on motorways.
  • If you can’t get out safely, stay in the car with your seat belt on and hazard lights on, and call 999.

4. Call for help

  • If you feel in danger, or you are stuck in a live lane, call 999 and ask for the police.
  • In an emergency area, use the emergency telephone or call National Highways on 0300 123 5000.
  • Then call your recovery company. Tell them you are on the M25, which direction you were travelling (clockwise or anticlockwise), the last junction you passed and anything nearby you can see, such as a marker post or bridge.

Don’t drive out of an emergency area on your own. National Highways asks you to speak to them first, and they may close a lane to let you rejoin safely.

Junctions we cover on the M25

AXI Recovery recovers cars, vans and motorcycles from the eastern side of the M25, including:

We take your vehicle to any garage or address you choose. See all areas we cover.

Quick checklist

  1. Exit or service area if possible.
  2. Otherwise go left: emergency area, lay-by or hard shoulder.
  3. Hazard lights on, wheels turned left.
  4. Out by the left door if safe, behind the barrier.
  5. No triangle, no repairs, don’t go back to the car.
  6. 999 if in danger; 0300 123 5000 from an emergency area.
  7. Call recovery with direction and last junction.

Broken down on the M25 now? Once you are safe, call AXI Recovery on +44 7342 850180, 24 hours a day.

Related guides

Sources

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