Mum warns drivers after baby overheated in M5 traffic jam

Siobhan said she had checked the route using a navigation app before setting off, and the motorway was showing as clear.

But, two miles before reaching the junction for Taunton, the traffic began slowing down and it took her ten minutes to drive one mile.

As her car began overheating, she had to switch the engine off.

The M5 was closed between junction 23 for Dunball and junction 24 for Bridgwater due to a police-led incident.

With the windows down, she said the vehicle became “just hotter and hotter”.

There was no shade on the hard shoulder, so Siobhan used it to drive the final mile to junction 25 where she was able to cool Adora down.

While Siobhan considered calling the police to help with an escort, she was concerned Adora’s “wellbeing may have gotten worse”, so her priority became getting off the M5.

“When you’re in that situation, you think to yourself, ‘I would rather be asking for forgiveness than to ask for permission and have to wait’ when it’s to do with a child,” she said.

But she said the experience would make her think carefully about travelling during hot weather in future.

“If this incident had happened when temperatures are 16 degrees or so, I don’t think it would have been such a struggle or an emotional day or I (would have) felt so anxious with my child in the car.”