London has the world's worst traffic for the third year in a row
With average speeds of just 10mph, London beats the likes of Dublin and Mexico CIty for the title of slowest capital
London is the world’s slowest capital city: that’s the verdict of a new report by TomTom which analyses the speed of movement of satellite navigation users across the world.
With millions of cars travelling across London every day, TomTom’s Annual Traffic Index shows that the average journey time for a six-mile drive in the UK capital is 35 minutes and seven seconds, at a speed of just over 10mph. This cements London’s place as the slowest capital city in the world for the third year running, and second to Barranquilla, Colombia, when looking at major cities overall.
In fact, things look to be getting even worse for Londoners wanting to get somewhere in a hurry; the average journey time is 45 seconds longer than last year, with the average citizen losing an average of 136 hours stuck in rush-hour traffic throughout 2025.
TomTom’s traffic expert, Andy Marchant, said: “London’s place as the slowest capital city in the Traffic Index really highlights the strain on the city’s roads. Many of these streets were built in the Middle Ages and expanded in the Georgian era, but they simply weren’t built for the volume and variety of traffic we see today.”
According to the index, the worst day for congestion was September 10 2025 when there was a London Underground strike, forcing commuters to seek alternative transport; at 5pm, congestion increased by as much as 135 per cent, says TomTom.
Yet while London certainly sees the longest journey times in not only the UK but the world, other British cities see higher levels of overall congestion. Belfast was rated by TomTom as the most traffic-filled city in the UK, with congestion levels of more than 58 per cent. Also having higher quantities of traffic than London were Edinburgh, Cambridge, Exeter, Brighton and Hove, Norwich and Kingston upon Hull.
Marchant pointed to 20mph speed limits as one of the driving factors slowing down traffic in urban areas around the UK, but added: “Trials of autonomous vehicles will be rolled out across 20 London boroughs, giving local authorities and city planners a real opportunity to rethink how cities manage congestion and keep people moving.”
Did you know you can sell your car through Auto Express? We’ll help you get a great price and find a great deal on a new car, too.
