Belfast beats London as UK's most congested city

New data revealed the UK’s most congested city on Tuesday - and it wasn’t London.

The annual TomTom Traffic Index, which analyses congestion based on information fed from the satnav devices, showed drivers in Belfast suffered more serious holdups than those in the capital, as well as in Manchester and Edinburgh.

It showed the average journey times in the Northern Ireland city were 40% slower than if traffic was allowed to move freely. During the evening peak, traffic moved 86% slower - up from 80% a year ago.

The index suggested Belfastites were wasting 195 hours each year in the driver’s seat - more than eight days, and more than double 2015’s figure.

Journeys in London were on average 38% slower than free flow, and 37% slower in Manchester. Both cities have far more developed public transport networks than Belfast.

Globally, the most congested place was Mexico City, where journeys average 59% slower than free flow. The top five was rounded out by Bangkok (58%), Istanbul (50%), Rio De Janeiro (47%), and Moscow (44%).

The index was not exactly scientific, as it relied on motorists with TomTom devices, and even then they needed to be connected to a network and allow data sharing.