British adults sleep more than seven hours a night on average

British adults sleep more than seven hours a night on average but find it hard to get out of bed in the morning, a survey has found.

The poll of 5,463 people from across the UK found they slept an average of seven hours, 21.5 minutes per night.

After waking, they lingered an average 20 minutes in bed before getting up.

Compared with Germans, Britons got 8.5 more minutes sleep and stayed in bed five minutes longer after their alarm had gone off, said researchers.

More than 70% of Britons use an alarm to wake them up on work days, the study found, while on days off only 12.5% use an alarm.

The survey results will be discussed today at the Times Cheltenham Science Festival.

Professor Till Roenneberg, from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, who took part in the research, said: “When I compared the sleep patterns of the UK respondents with their German counterparts the main difference was in their experience of social jet lag.

“Social jet lag is the discrepancy between what our body clock wants us to do and what our social clock wants us to do. It is much smaller for Brits, by more than 30 minutes, which means that the working day starting at 8.50am (compared to the German work day starting at 8.20am on average) better suits the sleep need of the UK population.”

PA