UK traffic volumes increased by 2.3% in the third quarter of 2013, compared to the same period last year, according to estimates released by the Department of Transport.

DoT said the increase could partly be attributed to the contrasting weather between the two periods, with the summer of 2012 experiencing extremely high levels of rain which may have put people off road trips, compared with the relatively dry summer this year.

Along with the weather, however, it said the economy was also likely to have affected the trend.

All types of vehicle traffic increased with light goods vehicle (LGV) traffic up 5.1%, heavy goods vehicle (HGV) traffic rising 2.7% and car traffic up by 1.9%.

Traffic volumes also rose on all types of roads with the largest increase, 3.2%, on motorways, while rural and urban roads were both up 2.1%.

The LGV figure of 60.8 billion miles during the third quarter is the highest since records began in 1993, up 66.7% over 20 years, and the overall figures were up 20.3% over the same period.