Driving in Birmingham always feels a little risky. If it isn’t the roads, it’s other drivers, and now we’ve got the weather to worry about. From high winds and downpours to hazardous heat and icy roads, new research has uncovered the UK cities most affected by weather conditions—and how that can make driving more dangerous.
Car insurance experts at MoneySuperMarket used historical meteorological data to review different weather scenarios. They then weighted them by how much the risk of a driving accident increased, and found how many days each UK city experienced each scenario. This was then used to calculate an overall score.
The weather scenarios used in MoneySuperMarket’s study were chosen because they can create unsafe conditions for motorists. They include days when wind gusts reach at least 45mph, days when temperatures reach at least 35°C, and days when freezing temperatures follow a day of rainfall.
The most dangerous driving weather conditions in the UK
UK motorists face some of the world’s most unpredictable driving weather, with Scotland facing the UK’s most dangerous. Scottish cities take the top four spots—these are Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen—but the top 5 is finished off by a surprise English city: Birmingham.
With an ‘overall risk score’ of 57.6 out of 100, Birmingham has the most dangerous driving weather conditions in England. Birmingham scored particularly highly in cold weather conditions, while also holding some of the most erratic weather conditions in the country.
Top 10 UK cities for driving weather risk:
- Inverness, Scotland
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Aberdeen, Scotland
- Birmingham, England
- Bristol, England
- York, England
- Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Newcastle upon Tyne, England
- Manchester, England
