Good Moaning?

Brits were named the biggest moaners in Europe - and it’s no thanks to the British weather.

UK folk spend a staggering 10 hours and 18 minutes moaning each week - a total of more than 22 days a year – nearly TWICE as long as the French.

The average Brit whines about something four times a day, for almost 22 minutes each time. And weather topped their list of daily groans, followed by feeling tired and the rubbish programmes on television.

Tim Bailey, spokesperson for Uniroyal Tyres which carried out the poll of 4,000 Europeans, said:

''Brits have a reputation in Europe for enjoying a good moan, especially about the weather, but it’s not surprising really. There has been a significant increase in UK rainfall over the past 40 years which can easily put a dampener on planning days out and getting to work, not to mention causing traffic problems.

"Everyone has their particular annoyance which causes them to vent their opinion. From slow internet connections and health problems to feeling hungry and talking about the recession, Brits love to whinge.

"But it’s no surprise that whenever the weather is really bad the whole country grinds to a halt. And with it raining one in every three days in the UK, that’s sure to get on your nerves."

The European-wide research revealed that those living in France moan for just five hours and 46 minutes a week, with the traffic and expensive train service the most popular subjects to complain about.

The Germans came third, whinging about the busy roads for an average of almost five and a half hours a week.

Residents in Spain spend four hours and 38 minutes a week grumbling about the workload while those in Holland moan for just over four hours about their neighbours.

Belgium was at number six in the poll, spending an average of three hours and 26 minutes lamenting, followed by Portugal with a weekly whine total of two hours and 17 minutes.

Poland, Italy and Switzerland completed the top ten. But researchers also revealed that 70 per cent of those polled think moaning is what makes us 'typically British'.

And while 76 per cent of Brits complain because they really are annoyed, eight per cent admitted they do simply because they enjoy it.

More than a third (37 per cent) even moan about something just to get a conversation started. Just over 70 per cent also reckon they whine more than normal if the weather is rubbish.

Tim Bailey, spokesperson for Uniroyal which commissioned the research to mark the 40th anniversary of their Rain Tyre, added: "Poor weather has a lot to answer for as it alters people’s moods and the box of moans opens up. A lot of people moan and worry about driving in wet weather which is why Uniroyal has been making tyre for four decades that excel in rainy conditions and give motorists confidence when driving in bad weather.

"Although there are other countries in Europe with similar weather to the UK, it seems it affects Brits the most.

"However, the British wouldn’t spend so much time moaning if they didn’t enjoy it, so there may always be a reason to have a good moan – even if the sun came out, they had lots of energy and television programmes were the best around."

It also emerged that peak grumbling time is 10.37 on a Monday morning.

Brits are most likely to harp on about their daily gripes at their desk at work (26 per cent), on the phone (21 per cent) and on social networking sites - like Twitter and Facebook (15 per cent). But one in five save up their gripes and whinge to their partner in bed at the end of the day.

Best friends, work colleagues and mums are usually on the receiving end of the ear-bashings. Six in 10 reckon women are worst at moaning. 

BRITS' TOP 20 REASONS FOR MOANING

1. Bad weather
2. Feeling tired
3. Rubbish TV
4. Slow Internet connections
5. How messy the home is
6. Traffic
7. Workload
8. Hangovers
9. Rude shop assistants
10. Feeling ill
11. Queue jumpers
12. Recession/credit crunch
13. Being hungry
14. Automated phone systems
15. Headaches
16. Neighbours
17. Cold callers
18. Slow walkers
19. Annoying boss
20. Price of petrol