As a warning to drivers this week, Just Stop Oil protesters have halted three lanes of the M25, increasing travel times by an hour.
After the activists started their protest just after 8am, traffic backed up for nine miles along the M25 between Cobham and Guildford, resulting in delays that reached Heathrow Airport.
In a statement issued today, Just Stop Oil requested that “no one go on this motorway from Wednesday to Friday this week as we will be blocking the highway” and that “the M25 be declared a site of civil resistance.”
The statement continued, saying “We fully understand the cost and disruption this will bring to the people and ask that they take their demands for compensation to the government which has brought about this unprecedented threat to our lives and rights.”
We are currently on a gantry above the M25, two of the protesters said today at the scene.
Up here, it’s quite windy and loud. Because our government must act, we have hung a banner with the words “Just Stop Oil” safely from the edge.
It must halt the issuance of additional North Sea oil and gas permits. Being up here puts our civil liberties at jeopardy; we don’t want to be up here, but we feel it’s necessary.
3 lanes (of 4) are currently closed on the M25 counterclockwise in Surrey within J10 (A3 towards Guildford) owing to an ongoing incident being led by Surrey Police, Highways England tweeted.
This situation is probably going to last for a while.
There is currently a 9 mile long approach delay that has lasted over 60 minutes.
The most recent protests have been sparked by a heatwave that made Tuesday the warmest day ever in the UK.
Incongruous 40.3C (104.54) temperature records were broken yesterday in Coningsby, Lincolnshire.
“The main thing is, we’ve just seen 40-degree temperatures, which have been predicted for decades.
Maybe it’s happening a little faster, but it has just revealed how insufficient the Government’s preparations for climate change are, and their entire policy, and basically, we’re just saying, it’s evident now we cannot continue,” a Just Oil spokesperson continued.
As “the critical first step to securing a liveable future,” the organisation requests that the government issue a “meaningful declaration” pledging to end licencing and consents for the exploration, development, and production of fossil fuels in the UK.