The M62 Summit section — between junctions 21 and 24, the Pennine crossing — sits at 1,221 feet above sea level at its highest point. That makes it the highest stretch of motorway in England. In summer you'd never know it. In January, when the temperature at Warrington drops to 2°C and you think nothing of it, it can be minus 6 up there and snowing.
Learnt that fact from experience rather than from a road sign. January 2019, running a double-decker load from Trafford Park to a Wakefield warehouse, J22 at about 02:30. Road was fine when I joined at Birch Services. By J22, the spray from other trucks had iced on the nearside mirror and I could feel the unit starting to find the surface on the bends. Not dramatic — just that slight lack of grip that you feel through the wheel before anything happens. Pulled off at the first opportunity, chain on (kidding — I don't run chains), but did 25 mph the rest of the way over the top. Arrived 40 minutes late. Delivered fine. But I'd been underprepared and I knew it.
What the M62 Summit actually does in winter
The Highways Agency (now National Highways) runs more gritting runs on the M62 Summit section than almost anywhere else on the motorway network. It gets treated early and often. In normal winter conditions — overnight frost, light snow showers — the road is usually manageable for a loaded artic running at sensible speed.
The problem is the conditions change fast. Wind at the Summit can gust to 70+ mph in a storm. Those same winds push snow horizontally across the carriageway and create drifts against the central reservation. Spray from traffic freezes on the road surface faster than gritters can respond. And the fog on the high section can be two hundred metre visibility when it's clear at Huddersfield below.
Twice in the last three years the M62 Summit has had a contraflow closure or a complete closure due to snow and ice on the eastbound, usually centred around J22 or the section between J22 and J23. Both times it happened quickly — passable at 01:00, closed by 03:00. Both times there were drivers who'd made it through and drivers who hadn't.
What I carry in the cab for the M62 in winter
This isn't a survival prep list — it's what actually fits in a cab and actually gets used.
A windscreen scraper and a decent one. Not the 50p petrol station job. The long-handled foam-grip ones that actually give you leverage across a 6-foot cab windscreen. I keep two: one in the side pocket, one behind the passenger seat.
A small shovel — the folding type, about 40 cm folded. You're probably not going to dig your truck out of a drift with it, but it's useful for clearing the front of your wheels if you've stopped in a layby and snow has packed against the tyres. Also useful for clearing the lights and the rear number plate, which are legal requirements in snow.
A hi-vis jacket that's actually in the cab, not in the toolbox in the fridge trailer somewhere behind you. If you need to get out on a dark wet motorway, you need it immediately. It's behind my seat, not packed away.
De-icer. One proper can, kept inside the cab so it's warm enough to actually spray. A can left in the toolbox that's been at minus 5 all night works less well than you'd hope.
Food and a flask. Not optional on the M62 in January. If you're sitting in a queue at J22 for two hours waiting for a gritter before a closure is lifted, you want a flask of tea and something to eat. Truck stop meals at Birch Services at 01:00 are all well and good if you can get there; a thermos in the cab is there when you can't.
Planning the run differently in January
The M62 isn't the only route between Manchester and West Yorkshire. The M62 is usually the fastest and the most direct, which is why everyone uses it. But the A62 over Standedge, the A672 through Ripponden, the A58 through Saddleworth — all of these are HGV-passable alternatives in some conditions, none of them are good alternatives in serious snow, and all of them take longer on a clear night anyway.
For a loaded artic in genuine winter conditions, the practical answer is: know before you go. The National Highways traffic and weather information line, plus Highways England's live incident map, will tell you if the Summit section has a severity alert or a closure before you commit to the westbound J24 slip. Check before you pull out of the depot, not when you're at J21 with 28 tonnes behind you and nowhere to turn around.
If the Summit is closed or at severe risk, the answer is to wait it out. Birch Services westbound, or Hartshead Moor Services eastbound, are the two holding points most drivers use. Both have decent HGV parking — Birch is bigger and better lit. You might lose two hours. You won't lose the load or a window.
The J22 decision that nearly cost me
The run in January 2019 — I mentioned it earlier but I'll finish the story. The issue wasn't the surface conditions at the Summit. They were challenging but manageable. The issue was my ETA at the Wakefield warehouse.
I'd made a delivery at Trafford Park at 23:30. Reload at 01:00. Summit crossing at 02:30. Warehouse delivery window opened at 05:00 with a strict cut-off at 06:00. I had time in the window — just. And I was running with that margin in mind.
When the grip started going at J22, my instinct was to push through because I had a window to hit. That's the wrong instinct. The right call — the one I eventually made — was to pull the speed right back, add 40 minutes to the crossing, and call the warehouse from the lay-by at J24 to give them a revised ETA. They were fine with it. The warehouse manager on nights said he'd had three drivers miss the cut-off that morning trying to make up time on the Summit. None of them made it.
The time pressure is the hazard. Not the ice. The ice is just ice — you slow down for ice and you manage it. The pressure to hit an ETA on a winter crossing is what makes drivers do things that get them sideways across the carriageway at 02:30 in the dark.
J25 eastbound and the rest stop timing problem
If you're running eastbound and you're coming to the end of your driving window as you approach the Summit, J25 (Brighouse) gives you the best options to come off before the worst of the high section. There's HGV parking at the industrial estates around Brighouse, and it's far more sensible to stop short of the Summit and wait for daylight or improved conditions than to push through on a failing driving window in deteriorating weather.
J24 westbound — Ainley Top — has a lorry park arrangement near the services. It's been a stopping point for drivers on the westbound since long before I started. Basic facilities, not brilliant, but it's used because it's in the right place.
One last thing
AdBlue freezes below about minus 11°C. If you're running a Euro VI unit in sustained cold — temperatures at the Summit can get there during a sustained cold spell — keep your AdBlue tank above half. A full tank has better thermal mass than a near-empty one. Doesn't prevent freezing indefinitely but it helps. Your dashboard will warn you on most units if the SCR system is seeing issues, but you don't want to be finding this out while you're trying to manage a cold Summit section at 03:00.
It's one road in one month of the year. Plenty of drivers cross it every January without incident. The ones who cross it every January without incident are also the ones who planned for the possibility that it might not go smoothly.
If you're tracking your driving windows against planned ETA buffers on winter runs, ShiftOwt shows your remaining hours live — £5.99/mo for drivers, agency pricing on request.