With summer in full swing, there may be less school traffic on the roads, but driving in the summer months comes with its own frustrations. HPI, which provides car history checks, has rounded up the top 10 things that annoy British drivers most.

Coming in first place is being stuck behind a slow caravan or tractor. Close second goes to being caught in a bank holiday traffic jam, with 43 per cent of respondents turning blue in the face when stuck in a jam.

Boy racers playing very loud music with open windows riled 32 per cent of people – ranking it a much bigger irritation than not having air conditioning. Being too hot in a car without air conditioning did ignite the tempers of many drivers however – though 10 per cent more women complained about it than men. Similarly, a large proportion of women said they hated hot seats and steering wheels, while men were unfazed by such irritations.

Everyone looks forward to getting away from it all over the summer, but it's clear from our survey that driving at the height of the season can be stressful.

Next in line was forgetting sunglasses on a sunny day, with children complaining on long journeys also coming in for mention. Again, there was a large gender divide on this, with 20 per cent of women raising it as a frustration compared with just six per cent of men.

Minor complaints included driving in flip flops and getting sunburn on one arm. Age did make a difference in how respondents answered; those over 60 were more likely to lose their temper with caravans and tractors, boy racers and tailbacks than those aged between 18 and 29. Younger drivers, however, got hot under the collar with the lack of air conditioning and being burned by hot steering wheels and seats.

Shane Teskey, senior consumer services manager at HPI, said: "Everyone looks forward to getting away from it all over the summer, but it's clear from our survey that driving at the height of the season can be stressful. The warm weather is great once you're on the beach, but being stuck in traffic in a hot car is enough to test the patience of most motorists.”

Picture: HPI