THE two Severn Bridges will be closed at various parts of the day and night for five days in the next week – starting tonight.

National Highways has confirmed that the M4 westbound over the Prince of Wales Bridge will be closed from 10pm tonight - Tuesday, March 1 - until 6am tomorrow, Wednesday, March 2.

The first Severn bridge – which carries the M48 – is the one that is going to be affected most by closures in the coming days. It will be closed from 6am on Saturday, March 5, until 6pm that same day in the eastbound direction.

The westbound direction of the bridge will be closed between 6am and 6pm on Sunday, March 6.

The eastbound side of the bridge will also be closed again between 7pm on Monday, March 7 and 6am on Tuesday, March 8.

Between 7pm on Tuesday, March 8 and 6am on Wednesday, March 9, the westbound side will be closed.

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National Highways say that the closures are for planned maintenance. They said that the M48 crossing – which was built in the 1960s – has a much narrower road surface so there is less space for them to carry out maintenance and they need to close it more often than most motorways.

The statement on their website says: “We understand that these closures cause disruption to road users and local communities, and we’re striving to keep the bridges open as often as we can.

“Our work isn’t always visible. We may be carrying out repairs underneath the road surface or waiting for construction materials to dry or set before continuing our work.”