Four people were killed and nearly 50 injured in two horror crashes that happened as families hit the roads for the half-term holidays.
The tragedies happened within an hour of each other and brought the motorway network in Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire to a halt.
A man died and nearly 50 were injured after a massive pile-up on the M40 near Bicester, Oxfordshire, involving up to 40 vehicles in foggy conditions.
In a separate crash three men were killed when a double-decker bus collided with their broken down car on the hard shoulder of M1 in Flitwick, Bedfordshire.
A fourth person in the hatchback car was critically injured and airlifted to hospital by helicopter.
The coach driver was arrested in connection with the collision and was taken to the police station where he was due to be questioned by detectives.
The Highway Agency were advising motorists to avoid both routes and said they faced severe delays of up to 60 minutes.
Fire crews, police and paramedics rushed to the M40 between junctions 9 and 10, near the busy designer outlet shopping centre in Bicester, Oxfordshire, just before 7.50am.
A spokesman for Thames Valley Police confirmed one person was killed, another suffered life-threatening injuries and a further six were seriously injured in the collisions.
Six more were taken to Horton Hospital, Banbury, with minor injuries and paramedics from South Central Ambulance Service accessed a further 49 people at the scene.
Eye witnesses who saw the aftermath of the collision described it as a 'sea of metal' and 'utter carnage.'
Police investigating the crash have described it as 'extraordinary' and said it's a 'serious blessing' that more people were not killed.
Chief Inspector Henry Parsons, of Thames Valley Police, said: 'The cause of this collision is under investigation, however, we believe that fog played a major part.
'This has been an extraordinarily large collision, we have not had a collision on this scale for many years in Thames Valley and one man has sadly lost his life.
'We are working as quickly as possible to clear the area and get the traffic moving again. I would like to thank the public for their patience while we undertake our important investigative work before a full reopening of the road is possible.
'Should anyone have concerns about friends or relatives who may have been travelling on the M40 this morning, then they can call our non-emergency number 101 for assistance.'
Motorists who were directed off the carriageway by police described seeing a jack-knifed lorry across three lanes of the carriageway at the front of the pile-up.
'It was utter carnage,' she said Zara Smith, 31, who was heading north from her home in Croydon, Surrey.
'It was just a sea of metal, you could not see where one car stopped and another one started.
'There were just so many cars involved, and definitely one lorry. The lorry had jack-knifed and was across three lanes.
'The fog was really bad and you could only see a couple of car lengths ahead.'
The motorway has been closed northbound between the junctions and is expected to remain closed for much of the day.
A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: 'Officers attended the scene following a report of the collision shortly before 8am.
'One person sadly died at the scene, one person sustained life-threatening injuries, six people were seriously injured and approximately 35 to 45 people have minor injuries.'
An ambulance spokeswoman said: 'It is quite a major collision. We were called at 7.48am to reports of a multiple road traffic collision on the M40, junctions 9 to 10 northbound near Bicester
'About 30 vehicles were involved and they were a mixture of cars, lorries and other vehicles.
'We have sent a lot of resources to the scene - seven ambulances, our hazardous area response team, one BASICS doctor from the helicopter and four ambulance officers.'
The ambulance spokesman said there was heavy fog in the area this morning.
Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that eight fire engines were sent to the scene at the height of the incident and were using hydraulic cutting equipment.
Pictures posted on Twitter show cars at a standstill in thick fog on the motorway, while drivers and passengers stand around.
Forecasters said Oxfordshire was hit by fog this morning, which would have hampered visibility.
In a separate incident three men were killed on the hard shoulder of the M1 in Flitwich, Bedfordshire, after a collision between a stationary car and a coach, police said.
Fourmen had been travelling in a blue Audi hatchback which had broken down on the hard shoulder when the coach crashed into it, killing three of the occupants.
Two of the dead were from Buckinghamshire and the other from the London area.
A fourth man, also from Buckinghamshire, was severely injured and was airlifted from the scene by helicopter and flown to the specialist head injuries unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
No one on the coach, travelling north from Kent, was injured.
The northbound carriageway of the motorway was closed and green screens erected around the car as the dead men were all cut free from the wreckage.
It has since been re-opened to traffic.
This afternoon the car, which had been crushed, was carried away from the scene on a low-loader.
The driver of the yellow and blue Travelmasters coach was arrested in connection with the collision, police said.
He was taken to a nearby police station where he was due to be questioned by detectives.
A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said that the collision happened at 6.46am between junction 12 and 13 of the northbound M1 when a double decker coach which was travelling northbound and the hatchback car, which was stationary on the hard shoulder, were in collision.
'Three men in the car were pronounced dead at the scene and a fourth man was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, with serious injuries. No one in the coach, which was travelling from Kent, was hurt,' said the spokesman.
'Police are locating and liaising with next of kin, a full collision investigation continues and diversions are expected to remain in place for the next few hours. The coach was not carrying football supporters.'
Thousands of West Ham fans made the journey to the West Midlands to watch their team play West Brom.
But before the kick off some fans told of their fears they could miss the start of the game because of long delays on roads.
West Ham fan Paul Challis wrote on Twitter. 'Surely @FA put back kick off. Oh on TV probably won't.'
Writing on Twitter ahead of the clash, West Ham advised its fans to avoid the M1 and M40.
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