Hull has achieved the best broadband speed improvement over 12 months as well as the highest speed overall, research suggests.

The East Yorkshire city came top of a comparethemarket.com analysis of Ofcom data, gaining an average of 54.9 megabits per second from 2018 to 2019, bringing its average speed up to around 131.4 megabits per second.

Corby in Northamptonshire, Test Valley in Hampshire, Dartford in Kent and Ards and North Down also did well in the ranking for most improved outside of London.

Meanwhile, Camden came out best for London boroughs, with broadband speeds boosted by around 21 megabits per second, as the average jumped from 56.7 megabits per second in 2018, to 77.7 megabits per second in 2019.

Kensington and Chelsea, Islington, Hackney and Hounslow were among the gainers around the capital, though Kingston upon Thames took the crown for fastest, at 81.6 megabits per second.

However, the research suggests a north-south divide, with seven of the top ten improvements located in areas further south, with just two northern areas in the top ten.

It also found that some places have seen broadband speeds drop over the past twelve months, as Daventry, Northamptonshire lost an average of 14.7 megabits per second, Babergh, Suffolk -7.5 megabits per second, Folkestone & Hythe, Kent, -6.3 megabits per second and Wiltshire -2.5 megabits per second.

Rural areas continue to suffer with some of the worst broadband speeds and many identified as below Government standards, which advises a minimum speed of 10 megabits per second and 1 megabits per second upload speed for homes and businesses.

According to the data, Orkney Islands in Scotland has the highest proportion of properties that fall below this standard (7.1%), followed by other rural areas in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, such as Argyll and Bute, the Shetland Islands and Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Outer Hebrides).

“With the UK on lockdown, internet connectivity is more important than ever, whether it be for working from home or streaming movies and TV shows,” said Holly Niblett, head of digital at comparethemarket.com.

“While it is encouraging that broadband speed has improved in some parts of the country, there is still some way to go.

“Whilst the Government recently pledged to increase broadband infrastructure spending, there are still hundreds of thousands of homes without decent broadband and the vast majority of these are in remote areas.

“With a significant number of people now working from home, lack of connectivity could be a serious cause for concern.

“Our research shows that four in ten consumers are experiencing issues with their broadband, which is impacting being able to work from home effectively.”