Sheffield named the UK’s fourth-worst city for traffic

placeholder image — Sheffield Named the UK’s Fourth-Worst City for Traffic

If it feels like you’re spending half your life stuck in traffic, you’re not imagining it. For many drivers, slow-moving roads and rush-hour bottlenecks are a daily frustration that quietly eat into time, energy, and productivity.

A new study analysing congestion across 35 UK cities takes a closer look at just how much time is lost behind the wheel each year. But which cities have the most traffic?

The study, conducted by cartridgesave.co.uk, analysed TomTom traffic data to measure average travel times and the proportion of driving time lost to congestion across major UK cities. By comparing how long it takes to travel 10 kilometres and how many hours drivers lose to rush-hour delays each year, the research shows where congestion has the biggest impact on everyday journeys.

Sheffield shares fourth place among the UK’s most congested cities. Drivers spend an average of 23 minutes 55 seconds per 10 km, with 39% of that time lost to rush-hour traffic. Over a year, this adds up to 91 hours stuck in traffic, making commuting in Sheffield a slow and frustrating experience for many.

The rest of the top 10 also face significant congestion. Hull and Belfast take the top two spots, with high percentages of time lost during rush hours. Edinburgh has the longest travel times, making even short journeys slow, while Leicester matches Sheffield with 39% congestion, leaving drivers frustrated during peak periods.

Birmingham, Southampton, and Oxford all record 38% congestion, with Oxford benefiting from shorter travel times. Swansea, Aberdeen, and Reading round out the top 10, each seeing 37% of driving time lost to traffic.

At the other end of the spectrum, the bottom five cities experience much lighter congestion. Inverness, Ipswich, Leeds, Middlesbrough, and Newcastle-Sunderland all see congestion rates of 20-30%, with drivers losing between 26 and 57 hours annually, making daily journeys far less stressful than in the UK’s most congested cities.

Full list of 35 cities with the worst traffic below:

Rank	City	Average travel time per 10km	Time lost per year at rush hours	Congestion level (%)
1	Hull	22 min 17 s	96 h	46%
2	Belfast	20 min 26 s	88 h	45%
3	Edinburgh	27 min 24 s	94 h	40%
4	Leicester	24 min 52 s	97 h	39%
4	Sheffield	23 min 55 s	91 h	39%
6	Birmingham	20 min 49 s	89 h	38%
6	Southampton	20 min 31 s	77 h	38%
6	Oxford	14 min 51 s	61 h	38%
9	Swansea	22 min 18 s	75 h	37%
9	Aberdeen	21 min 37 s	67 h	37%
9	Reading	20 min 33 s	73 h	37%
9	Exeter	15 min 26 s	56 h	37%
13	Cambridge	20 min 41 s	81 h	36%
13	Norwich	17 min 00 s	60 h	36%
15	Liverpool	25 min 15 s	86 h	35%
15	Nottingham	23 min 05 s	82 h	35%
15	Bradford	22 min 08 s	80 h	35%
15	Brighton and Hove	19 min 43 s	67 h	35%
15	Dundee	18 min 45 s	54 h	35%
15	Portsmouth	16 min 44 s	52 h	35%
21	Bristol	22 min 49 s	87 h	34%
21	Preston	18 min 55 s	60 h	34%
23	Coventry	21 min 20 s	70 h	33%
23	Stoke-on-Trent	17 min 01 s	60 h	33%
25	London	33 min 17 s	113 h	32%
25	Manchester	24 min 46 s	94 h	32%
25	Bournemouth	18 min 56 s	59 h	32%
28	Glasgow	23 min 19 s	73 h	31%
28	Cardiff	21 min 19 s	60 h	31%
28	Plymouth	18 min 31 s	56 h	31%
31	Inverness	17 min 18 s	45 h	30%
32	Ipswich	13 min 17 s	38 h	29%
33	Leeds	20 min 23 s	57 h	27%
34	Middlesbrough	10 min 35 s	30 h	25%
35	Newcastle–Sunderland	15 min 25 s	26 h	20%