Brits miss out on a staggering two and a half hours of sleep per night due to stress, according to new national research.

The study, conducted by the UK’s most trusted sleep brand, Silentnight, was commissioned to lay bare the true impact stress is having on the nation’s sleep.

It reveals UK adults miss out on three full days of sleep per month due to stress, which adds up to a shocking thirty six entire days per year.

The average Brit only gets six hours and twenty four minutes of sleep per night, considerably less than the seven to nine hours recommended by sleep experts.

More than four in five people (82%) report feeling stressed, according to the data, with 18% revealing they are feeling ‘very stressed’.

In total, almost two thirds of the nation (64%) say that stress causes them to lose sleep and/or negatively impacts the quality of their sleep.

The research found finances and the cost of living crisis are the most common issues when it comes to night-time angst, affecting nearly half of Brits (46%).

Similarly, a quarter of people (25%) said politics, romantic relationships and work in equal measure cause them to lose sleep.

According to the Silentnight experts, sleep and stress are closely connected. When we go to sleep our bodies produce melatonin, a sleep hormone, then as the sun rises this is replaced by cortisol.

Cortisol is the primary stress hormone, and if we have too much going through our bodies at night, due to worries about work or relationships, we may find it more difficult to nod off and stay asleep through the night.

The good news is that there are a variety of techniques to help destress and reduce cortisol levels before bed, from meditation and deep breathing to taking a hot shower and lighting a candle.

Silentnight’s research revealed more than a quarter of Brits (26%) wind down by reading a book, while 16% listen to calming music and 15% have a relaxing bath.

The data shows Portsmouth is the UK’s most sleep-deprived city with more than three in ten people getting fewer than five hours of sleep a night, and residents averaging just five hours and forty eight minutes nightly.

Meanwhile, more than three fifths of people (62%) in the city say they are ‘very stressed’.

At the other end of the spectrum, Yorkshire is the country’s least stressed region, with more than one in five (22%) people saying they are not stressed at all.

Southampton is the nation’s most well rested city, with residents getting an average of seven hours and six minutes sleep per night.

When it comes to age demographics, Brits aged 18-34 are the most stressed, with 84% reporting that they are stressed and 37% that they are ‘very stressed’.

To help Brits overcome stress at bedtime and ensure they get the recommended seven to nine hours per night, Silentnight’s sleep expert Hannah Shore has shared her top tips.

Hannah Shore, Sleep Knowledge and Researcher manager at Silentnight said: “Sleep and stress are very closely linked.

“Sleep intrinsically is a complex release of different hormones and processes, and the act of sleeping itself can be greatly influenced by external factors.

“While everyone’s circumstances are different, the good news is that there are several tips and tricks that you can employ in your own life in order to help alleviate the problem.”

Hannah’s top three tips for destressing at bedtime…

STOP SCROLLING
We’ve all heard about blue light being bad for you in the evenings, but it might not be as bad as the content we are scrolling through on our phones. Looking through the news and scrolling through social media can all produce ‘wake-promoting’ hormones when we are trying to get to sleep. Put your phone down an hour before bed to reduce this.

GET UP
It may come as a surprise, but if you can’t get to sleep, the worst place for you to be is lying in bed staring at the ceiling. Doing this will only make you more stressed about not being able to sleep. Instead get up and read a book, listen to a podcast or do something else calming. Eventually you’ll get sleepy and return to bed to drop off.

ROUTINE, ROUTINE, ROUTINE
Create a successful wind down down routine. This can be anything that will help you switch off from the day, such as reading, listening music – or even watching TV. Yes, that’s right. Most people advise against this but if watching TV is how you disconnect from your day then that’s fine. Just don’t binge watch Netflix all night long!

TOP THREE MOST STRESSED CITIES (based on % who say they are very stressed)

Portsmouth (64%)
Cambridge (62%)
Wrexham (42%)