The most annoying places to be a driver in the UK

UK drivers spent around 115 hours held up in traffic in 2019 – with new research revealing the most frustrating places in the country to be a motorist.

Traffic analyst Inrix also found that tailbacks on UK roads were impacting our pockets, costing the average driver £894 a year.

The economy also takes a hit from traffic jams, with tailbacks costing the UK £6.9bn in 2019.

London was the worst off city, according to the research, with motorists spending an average of 149 hours in jams during peak periods last year, making it the world’s eighth most congested city.

Belfast came second, with drivers in the Northern Ireland capital being held up on average for 112 hours.

Bristol motorists spent on average 103 hours stuck on the roads per driver, followed by Edinburgh at 98 hours and Manchester at 92 hours.

The biggest year-on-year increase in congestion was in Cardiff, which saw a 5% growth in the hours spent in tailbacks to 87 hours per driver last year.

The biggest fall in congestion among the top 10 cities was in Nottingham, which saw a decrease of 17% to 78 hours per driver.

The UK’s most congested road is the A404/A501 from Edgware Road to Old Street in London, where commuters lost an average of 44 hours in 2019.

Birmingham’s A38 caused the longest delays outside London, with drivers spending an average of 32 hours each on the road.

Talking about the findings, Trevor Reed from Inrix said: “You have very severe congestion and a massive, relatively high earning population.

“UK cities are quite a bit older and a lot denser than American cities.

“London is over 2,000 years old.

“When you develop around walking, and horse and buggy, and everything but cars, the urban environment does not handle [cars] all that well.”

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “This government is determined to improve journeys for all motorists, which is why we’re investing nearly £29bn to reduce congestion on our roads up to 2025.

“Looking to the future, our £2.5bn Transforming Cities Fund will help develop innovative public transport projects, while the tripling of our investment per head in cycling and walking since 2010 is encouraging people to try other ways of getting around – helping create less congested towns and cities.”

(c) Sky News 2020: The most annoying places to be a driver in the UK