With traffic congestion rising in nearly every UK city, find out how much slower your daily drive might be, and which cities now suffer the worst commutes, according to the 2024 TomTom Traffic Index.
Updated for 2024: Nightmare commutes are becoming a daily reality for many. New TomTom Traffic Index data reveals that almost every major city in the UK experienced slower travel and higher congestion over the past year. How does your city fare? Read on for the latest rankings, average speeds, congestion levels, and time wasted in traffic – and see if your commute is one of the hardest hit.
Congested rush-hour traffic is an increasingly common sight on UK commutes.
Key 2024 Commute Statistics (UK Cities)
- Typical Travel Time (10 km): Around 22 minutes in peak traffic. A 10-kilometre (6-mile) drive in a UK city now takes roughly in the low 20s of minutes on average during rush hours, and much longer in the largest cities. London alone requires just over 33 minutes for the same distance, the slowest in the country.
- Average Congestion Level: 20.4% (24/7 average), a 9% increase from 18.7% the previous year. Nearly 97% of UK cities saw congestion worsen in 2024. (Congestion level = extra travel time due to traffic; e.g. 20% means a trip takes 20% longer than it would on empty roads.)
- Time Lost to Traffic per Year: ~3 days (≈72 hours) for the typical UK commuter in peak hours. In 2024, Londoners lost 109 hours (4.5 days) sitting in traffic. Even in smaller cities, drivers lost about 60 hours (~2.5 days) annually to jams. This wasted time is up across the board compared to 2023.
- Average Rush Hour Speed: ~24 km/h (about 15 mph) in urban areas. In highly congested city centres, drivers crawl along at painfully low speeds. London averaged only 18 km/h (11 mph) during 2024. By contrast, in less congested cities like Preston, rush-hour speeds reach around 28 km/h (17 mph), but even these “fast” commutes are slowing down year-on-year.
Slowest vs. Fastest City Commutes
London once again ranks as the slowest city to drive in – not just in the UK but all of Europe. According to TomTom’s 2024 report, a 10 km trip in London takes just over 33 minutes on average. That’s slower than any other city in Europe and places London among the top 5 slowest cities worldwide for traffic speed. (By comparison, the world’s worst, Barranquilla in Colombia, is only a few minutes slower at ~35 minutes for 10 km.) London’s commute has even gotten slightly slower, up about 1.8% in travel time from the previous year.
On the flip side, some smaller UK cities still offer relatively faster commutes. Preston boasts one of the quickest: drivers there can cover 10 km in under 19 minutes on average, roughly half the time it takes in London. Preston’s average traffic speed (around 32 km/h) is the highest recorded in the UK, underscoring the stark urban/rural divide. Other mid-size cities like Nottingham, Bristol, and Hull see typical 10 km travel times around 21–22 minutes, significantly better than London’s slog, though still affected by rising congestion.
It’s worth noting that even the fastest UK cities are slowing down. For example, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and Manchester all experienced modest increases of ~1–3% in commute times last year. An Edinburgh driver now needs about 26½ minutes to go 10 km, while in Liverpool it’s 24½ minutes. No major city was immune from this creeping slowdown.
Climbing Congestion Levels Nationwide
Traffic congestion is up across nearly all UK cities, and in some places it’s skyrocketed. TomTom’s data shows average congestion (extra travel time) rose to 20.4% nationally, a jump from 2023. In total, 34 out of 35 UK cities analysed saw congestion worsen in 2024.
Surprisingly, London is no longer the most congested city in the UK when looking at percentage delays. In 2024, London’s average congestion level was about 32%, high, but not even in the UK’s top 10. Several smaller cities surpassed it. The highest congestion levels were recorded in Hull (46%) and Belfast (45%), both of which now endure worse 24/7 traffic delays than the capital. Edinburgh also isn’t far behind with 40% congestion on average.
Other urban areas saw alarming year-on-year surges in traffic delay. Notably, Southampton’s congestion jumped by 34% – the biggest increase of any UK city, partly due to roadworks and a return of commuters. Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent all experienced double-digit percentage jumps in congestion as well. These spikes suggest that traffic is not just returning post-pandemic, but in many cases exceeding pre-2020 levels.
Overall, higher congestion means slower trips for drivers. Any improvement from lighter 2020-2021 traffic is firmly in the rear-view mirror. Drivers in almost every city are spending a larger share of their commute time stuck in gridlock than they did a year ago.
Hours Wasted in Traffic Jams
The cost of these slower commutes can be measured in hours, even days, lost to traffic. TomTom calculates the total time drivers spend stuck in congestion over a year, and the numbers are eye-opening.
In 2024, a typical London commuter wasted 109 hours in traffic during rush hours. That’s about 4½ days of one’s life gone, just idling in jams, an increase of a couple of hours compared to 2023. London’s time loss is the worst in the country (and among the worst globally), but other UK cities aren’t far behind:
- Leicester commuters lost roughly ~93–97 hours to traffic in 2024, nearly 4 days.
- Hull drivers were close behind, also around 96 hours (4 days) wasted in jams.
- Manchester and Edinburgh residents each spent about 85–91 hours (3.5+ days) stuck in traffic over the year.
- Even mid-sized cities like Sheffield, Birmingham, Belfast, Bristol, and Liverpool saw drivers lose on the order of 80+ hours each to congestion in 2024.
By contrast, the least congested cities still cost drivers around 2–2.5 days per year. For example, in relatively smaller urban areas such as Bournemouth, motorists sat idle for about 59 hours in 2024 (roughly 2 days and 11 hours). Similar ~60-hour annual delays were seen in places like Preston and Cardiff. So even in the “best” UK cities, commuters are losing well over a full workweek each year to traffic.
These lost hours aren’t just an abstract statistic; they mean time away from family, work, or leisure, and they have real economic costs. Unfortunately, 2024’s rise in congestion indicates these impacts on drivers’ time are getting worse, not better.
Why Are Commutes Slower?
Multiple factors are contributing to the slowdown of UK commutes. More cars on the road (as post-pandemic travel rebounds) is one obvious cause. TomTom’s analysis also points to infrastructure and weather issues that exacerbated traffic last year. For instance, the worst congestion day in London (Nov 27, 2024) coincided with major rail line disruptions that pushed commuters onto the roads, plus heavy rain and flooding from Storm Conall, a perfect storm for gridlock. Edinburgh likewise saw unusual congestion spikes during winter storms, highlighting how extreme weather events can cripple city traffic. Roadworks and long-term infrastructure projects in many cities have further slowed down drivers, as key routes face closures or reduced capacity.
Public transport challenges also play a role. With rail strikes and rising transit fares, some commuters who might otherwise take a train or bus have turned to driving, adding to road congestion. It’s a vicious cycle: slower roads can push people back toward other modes, but if those modes are unreliable or expensive, more people drive, creating more traffic.
Is Your Commute Getting Slower? – The Verdict
If it feels like your commute is getting slower, the data says you’re probably right. Across the UK, drivers are spending more time in traffic and travelling at lower speeds than just a year ago. From mega-city London to regional towns, congestion is trending up.
That said, the pain is not evenly distributed. Major metros like London and Edinburgh still top the charts for sluggish travel, but even smaller cities (once relatively swift to traverse) are seeing congestion creep in. The TomTom Traffic Index 2024 puts concrete numbers to what drivers have been feeling: longer journey times, higher congestion percentages, and dozens of hours lost to jams.
For commuters, these findings underscore the importance of planning ahead. Anticipate that your usual drive may take longer than it did last year, and consider alternative routes or travel times to avoid peak gridlock. Even better, when possible, explore public transport, carpooling, or flexible work arrangements to dodge the worst traffic.
Bottom line: UK commutes are getting slower, almost universally. The latest stats confirm it. But by staying informed (and perhaps adjusting your travel habits), you can better navigate the daily grind. Safe travels, and here’s hoping we see a turnaround in traffic trends in the coming years, so our commutes become faster instead of ever slower!
2024 Commute Times: Major UK Cities at a Glance
To wrap up, here’s an updated look at average commute speeds and travel times in some of the UK’s major cities, based on the 2024 TomTom Traffic Index data. The table below shows each city’s average travel time per 10 km, how much it changed from the previous year, and the average speed during rush hour in that city:
| London | 33 min 15 s (slowest) | +30 s ↑ | 18 km/h (lowest) |
| Manchester | 23 min 54 s | +30 s ↑ | 24 km/h |
| Liverpool | 24 min 22 s | +40 s ↑ | 24 km/h |
| Bristol | 22 min 1 s | +10 s ↑ | 26 km/h |
| Edinburgh | 26 min 27 s | +20 s ↑ | 22 km/h |
| Sheffield | 23 min 5 s | +20 s ↑ | 25 km/h |
| Leicester | 24 min 1 s | +10 s ↑ | 24 km/h |
| Nottingham | 22 min 17 s | +30 s ↑ | 26 km/h |
| Cardiff | 22 min 8 s | +20 s ↑ | 27 km/h |
| Bournemouth | 22 min 14 s | +10 s ↑ | 27 km/h |
(Key: An upward arrow ↑ indicates an increase in travel time compared to 2023.)
As shown above, London remains an outlier with by far the longest travel times and slowest speeds. Most other cities average in the low-to-mid 20-minute range for 10 km trips, with typical rush-hour speeds in the mid-20s km/h. Cardiff and Bournemouth have some of the fastest commutes among major UK cities (around 22 minutes for 10 km), while London and Edinburgh are the slowest. Crucially, every city listed saw its travel times get worse (note the “+ seconds” increases) and speeds drop in 2024 – reinforcing the trend that virtually all UK commutes are slowing down.
Sources: Data and rankings are drawn from the TomTom Traffic Index 2024 report and related analyses. Additional context on congestion and commute times is based on TomTom’s published city reports and press releases. All statistics reflect 2023–2024 findings for UK urban areas, as cited above.