The M25 will shut for 57 hours this weekend for essential works by National Highways, with two junctions set to receive a massive facelift.

       The "unprecedented" action will allow construction crews to demolish a bridge and install a gantry between Junctions 10 and 11, where the motorway connects to the A3 and A320.

       For motorists, this means that a significant stretch of the traffic artery will close from 9am tonight to 6am on Monday, with diversions taking people around the ongoing works.

       Doubly unlucky for drivers is the fact that the incoming works are just a taste of what is to come later this year.

       National Highways is following a timeline that will see five closures in total between spring and autumn 2024.

       READ MORE: When M25 closes, where is it shut and reason why it will take 57 hours to open

       The M25 will close for the first of five times this weekend, with the first diversions in place from tonight at 9pm. The closures will last roughly 57 hours until the following Monday, March 18, at 6am.

       Junction 10, the point at which the M25 meets the A3, and Junction 11, which links the A320 between Staines and Woking and the A317 to Weybridge, will be closed entirely at this time.

       National Highways has created a diversion via Cobham, Byfleet, West Byfleet and Sheerwater and urges drivers to follow the set route rather than follow their sat navs.

       Motoring expert Steve Gooding, from the RAC Foundation, warned today there is worse to come after the weekend's closures, saying: “For drivers who’ve already had their patience tried by the queues at the Junction 10 works, the phrase ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’ springs to mind.”

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       People won't have long to wait before their next dose of annoyance, with more closures to come in April 2024.

       The incoming closure will allow crews to install the Clearmount bridleway bridge.

       Construction teams will need from April 19 to April 22 for the works, with junctions 11 and 10 again to be closed in both directions.

       National Highways is yet to confirm when the following closures will take place this year, nor how much of the M25 will be affected.

       The organisation has reassured, however, that the closures will not conflict with any holiday periods or key events taking place in the area.

       Construction crews still need to build the Cockcrow Green Bridge as part of the Junction 10 works before the newly refurbished M25 opens in the summer of 2025.