M5 Junctions 1 to 3 60mph limit revoked in October 2026
This looks like a very technical notice, but the everyday change is quite simple. The legislation.gov.uk text says the 60mph limit on the M5 between junctions 1 and 3, along with slip roads at junctions 1 and 2, will be revoked. The Regulations were made on 4 September 2026, laid before Parliament on 7 September 2026, and come into force on 4 October 2026. If you use this stretch of motorway, the key point is that a special lower limit is being removed. From 4 October, the ordinary motorway rule applies again unless signs on the road show a lower speed.
It is also worth pausing on the phrase statutory instrument, because this is where many readers switch off even though the idea is not that mysterious. A statutory instrument is a piece of secondary legislation. In plain English, that means ministers are using powers that Parliament has already given them in an earlier Act, rather than passing a whole new Act of Parliament from scratch. Here, the Secretary of State is acting under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. The document also records that representative organisations were consulted, which is one of the legal steps built into this kind of road traffic change. Motorways sit inside the legal category of special roads, which is why that wording appears in the title.
The 2026 Regulations do not create a fresh speed limit. They remove an older one. In 2022, a separate set of Regulations put a 60mph limit on this part of the M5. The new instrument simply revokes that earlier rule. That matters because when a special local rule is taken away, the default rule comes back. So the legal reason for the revocation is straightforward: if the Government no longer wants this stretch to have its own dedicated 60mph cap, it has to cancel the 2022 Regulations formally. The Explanatory Note treats this as a tidy legal change rather than a major shift in transport policy.
What does the national motorway speed limit mean in practice? For most cars and motorcycles, it usually means 70mph. But we should say that carefully. National speed limit does not mean every vehicle may travel at 70mph in every situation. Different vehicle types can have different legal limits, and any lower speed shown on signs must still be obeyed. That is the practical lesson for drivers. The end of this 60mph rule does not mean speed no longer needs thought. Traffic, weather, road layout and temporary signs still matter. The safest way to read the change is that the special cap is going, not that all caution is going with it.
The dates in the notice also tell you how these legal changes work. Made means the minister has signed the Regulations. Laid before Parliament means they have been formally presented to Parliament. Coming into force is the date when the rule actually starts to apply on the road. So there is a gap between the signing date and the live date. In this case, the instrument was signed on 4 September 2026 by Justin Madders, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, but drivers should look to 4 October 2026 as the date that changes the legal position on this stretch.
One detail that can look odd at first glance is the line saying the Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland. That does not mean the M5 suddenly runs across all those places. It is legal drafting linked to the Act being used. The road itself is the M5 in England, but the wording reflects the wider reach of the law behind the instrument. The Explanatory Note also says no full impact assessment has been produced because officials do not expect a significant effect on the private, voluntary or public sector. That is a clue about scale. This is being handled as a narrow operational change, not as a big national transport overhaul.
What this means, then, is simple once we strip away the legal language. A route-specific 60mph rule introduced in 2022 is being switched off on part of the M5. From 4 October 2026, the standard motorway rule returns on that stretch, and drivers should still watch for signage and remember that vehicle type affects the limit that applies. There is a useful media literacy lesson here too. Official documents often sound far more daunting than the change they announce. If we read this one slowly, it tells a clear story: an older local speed limit is being revoked, the default motorway position comes back, and the law spells that out with precision so there is no doubt about when the change begins.