You could be living on the fright side of town.
If this year wasn’t scary enough as it is, turns out where you live could make it a whole lot spookier. According to OnlineMortgageAdvisor.co.uk, Birmingham was ranked in the top five spookiest towns and cities in the UK.
In order to get such horrifying results, the mortgage specialist took into consideration seven factors: the number of cemeteries, paranormal sightings, abandoned homes, spooky roads, safety at night, level of crime and annual sunshine.
Birmingham ranked a surprising second in the list of spookiest towns with a spooky score of 1040, but was beaten to the top spot by the Welsh town of Newport, which scored 1070. As the second largest city in the UK, Birmingham also has a haunting number of cemeteries. With 28 recorded cemeteries in the city, it shares first place with Newport, Nottingham and London with a score of 300.
But that’s not the only factor that Birmingham scored highly on. The city has recorded 45 paranormal sightings, scoring a whopping 300 alongside Newport and Preston.
Luckily being in the middle of the country has its perks as Birmingham was ranked in the middle of the table for annual sunshine. Brummies apparently get to enjoy around 1445.3 hours per year. In any case, it keeps the vampires away. The darkest places in the UK are Glasgow with only 1203.1 hours of annual sunshine, followed by Manchester (1212.4 hours), Armagh (1245.5 hours), Belfast (1246.9 hours) and Newry (1255.8 hours).
You’ll also be relieved to know that there aren’t many abandoned homes in Birmingham in contrast to other towns and cities. The data found that there are 4,575 abandoned homes in the city but when you compare it London, which recorded 24, 677 abandoned homes, it is a lot more reassuring. Perhaps, those abandoned homes are down to the extortionate London house prices!
Have you ever found yourself walking alone on an unfamiliar road, only to look up at a sign telling you the road’s name is Dead Lane? Well, OnlineMortgageAdvisor.co.uk can reveal that there are a few spooky-named roads in Birmingham. Look out for Hallow Close, Hanging Lane and Dark Lane next time you go for a wander.
OnlineMortgageAdvisor.co.uk calculated these scores by comparing each factor against the town or city’s population size.