A BMW driver lost control in high winds and driving rain on the M25 last night.

The crash came five hours after firefighters had to cut the roof off a smashed car to extricate an elderly man.

Both traffic accidents happened on the same stretch of motorway between junction 9, to Leatherhead, and junction 8, to Reigate.

At about 1am, a silvery-grey BMW crashed into the central reservation and barriers while driving in the clockwise direction.

Leatherhead blue watch commander Tony Hartwell said: "One male occupant is believed to have broken his arm. He lost control due to weather conditions."

Earlier, at about 8pm, a Peugeot hatchback driving in the anticlockwise direction collided with motorway barriers and a black Audi.

Mr Hartwell said: "We cut the car up to get the gentleman out. He had lower back and neck injuries and a cut to the head.

"Due to complications they were taking him to St George’s Hospital to monitor the situation but he seemed stable."

He said a man and woman were in the Audi at the time, adding: "The lady suffered some minor injuries to her ribs."

A South East Coast Ambulance Service spokesman said they were called to reports of a road traffic collision just before 8.10pm. 

He said: "A man aged in his 80s, with injuries including a head and leg injuries, was assessed and treated at the scene before being taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting."

He said they were also called shortly before 1.10am to reports of a collision involving a lorry and car.

He said: "One ambulance crew attended the scene and a man aged in his 20s with injuries, including a wrist injury, was assessed and treated at the scene before being taken to East Surrey Hospital in Redhill."