Revealed: Best time to travel on UK roads
From London rush hour to Preston's speedy road network, these are the best times to drive in the UK
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With more than 245,000 miles of road in the whole of Great Britain, getting from A to B can sometimes be a time-consuming challenge.
Slow driving is one of the biggest frustrations shared by British motorists across the country, especially when stuck in a traffic jam during peak times.
If you think you have it bad, you may want to spare a few moments to sympathise with drivers in London.
According to our research, motorists in the capital spend 156 hours in traffic each year, with Thursdays between 5pm and 6pm being the most congested time of the week.
What’s the situation like in your hometown?
Sam Sheehan, motoring editor at cinch, reveals the ins and outs of cruising around 25 of the UK’s busiest towns and cities, including the best time to travel, average hours lost in congestion, and yearly petrol cost per location.
Best times to travel by road
If you’re an early bird, you’ll be glad to know the quietest time of the day for road users is when the sun is coming up.
So, if you’re off on a road trip in your eye-catching used Audi or bold used BMW car, you may want to set off between 4am and 6am to avoid lengthy queues and tooting horns.
Results show that across the UK, Mondays and Wednesdays are generally the calmest days of the week for road users driving in the early hours of the morning.
But which British cities allow for the swiftest journeys?
“Based on our findings, the best place to get from A to B quickly is Preston,” Sheehan explained.
“The quietest time to take to the road in the Lancashire city is on Wednesdays at 4am when motorists can expect to travel 10km (6.2 miles) in just under seven minutes, sticking to legal speed limits.
“Early risers in Stoke-on-Trent also enjoy their most traffic-free travelling between 4-5am on a Wednesday morning. On average, it takes them seven minutes and 39 seconds to cover the same distance.
“Across the border, even at the quietest times in the week for drivers in Edinburgh (Mondays at 6am), it takes an average 11 minutes and 29 seconds to travel 10km.”
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Best time of the week to travel 10km (6.2 miles) by road – quickest five locations:
Preston – Wednesday at 4am (6 minutes, 48 seconds)
Stoke-on-Trent – Wednesday at 4am (7 mins, 39 secs)
Reading – Wednesday at 3am (7 mins, 53 secs)
Coventry – Wednesday at 4am (8 mins, 3 secs)
Middlesbrough – Monday at 5am (8 mins, 13 secs)
Best time of the week to travel 10km by road – slowest five locations:
Edinburgh – Monday at 6am (11 minutes, 29 seconds)
Brighton – Friday at 6am (11 mins, 20 secs)
Bournemouth – Wednesday at 5am (11 mins, 12 secs)
London and Liverpool – Tuesday at 5am (10 mins, 57 secs)
Worst times to travel by road
When it comes to the worst times to travel in towns and cities across the country, morning and evening rush hours are the periods you’d be wise to avoid.
When analysing data from all 25 towns and cities we found that the peak hours for traffic congestion were 8am to 9am and 5pm to 6pm – with Wednesday afternoons being the UK’s busiest time of the week for road users.
One place bucking the national trend is Brighton, which sees its busiest traffic on Fridays between 3-4pm, possibly because of office workers taking an early finish and the number of parents doing the school run.
Hours lost in congestion
London is the UK city where you’re most likely to sit in traffic jams, with the average motorist losing around 156 hours in congestion per year.
During rush hour, drivers can expect to travel at a tortoise-like average 9mph on the capital’s congested roads.
With more than 2.6 million licensed cars in London alone, it’s hardly a shock to see England’s capital city come out on top – but who stands second on this unenviable list?
The answer is Bristol, with motorists in the west country city spending, on average, 91 hours in traffic every year.
Third on the list is Manchester, where drivers spend 84 hours in congestion per year and aren’t likely to go more than 14mph in rush hour.
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Yearly hours lost in congestion per driver – five worst locations in the UK:
London – 156 hours (average speed in rush hour: 9mph)
Bristol – 91 hours (average speed in rush hour: 15mph)
Manchester – 84 hours (average speed in rush hour: 14mph)
Birmingham – 73 hours (average speed in rush hour: 19mph)
Belfast – 72 hours (average speed in rush hour: 19mph)
If congestion-free driving is high on your priority list, you’ll find solace driving around Middlesbrough.
The Teesside town has the lowest score regarding hours lost in traffic, with an average of 24 hours per driver each year.
Other UK locations that score well for congestion-free cruising are Swansea and Glasgow, where motorists only spend 29 and 31 hours in congestion per year on average, respectively.
Yearly hours lost in congestion per driver – five best locations in the UK:
Middlesbrough – 24 hours (average speed in rush hour: 30mph)
Swansea – 29 hours (average speed in rush hour: 21mph)
Glasgow – 31 hours (average speed in rush hour: 19mph)
Portsmouth – 34 hours (average speed in rush hour: 30mph)
Newcastle – 40 hours (average speed in rush hour: 19mph)
Petrol expenses
There’s no hiding that petrol prices are going up. And, while it’s not an exact science, the longer you spend in traffic the more fuel you will consume.
Each year, London drivers splash out an average £805 to juice up their vehicles, and a whopping £200 of that is lost to congestion alone.
Drivers in Bristol and Manchester also must set aside that little extra to keep the wheels turning every year, with £169 and £144 spent respectively to cover the amount of petrol consumed in traffic.
On the flip side, motorists in Middlesbrough have it best when it comes to petrol expenses. Per year, they are likely to pay a relatively affordable £512 in fuel, £54 of which is due to time spent in congested traffic.
When it comes to traffic-induced petrol costs, Newcastle features as the second most affordable location across the UK (£66 each year).
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Petrol cost per year per driver – five most expensive locations in the UK:
London – £805 per driver (£200 lost to congestion)
Bristol – £687 (£169 lost to congestion)
Manchester – £651 (£144 lost to congestion)
Brighton – £640 (£114 lost to congestion)
Sheffield – £636 (£121 lost to congestion)
Petrol cost per year per driver – five most affordable locations in the UK:
Middlesbrough – £512 per driver (£54 lost to congestion)
Portsmouth – £526 (£82 lost to congestion)
Stoke-on-Trent – £533 (£96 lost to congestion)
Coventry – £542 (£67 lost to congestion)
Newcastle – £547 (£66 lost to congestion)