Do you live in a heartbreak hotspot? The UK towns where residents are unluckiest in love

Can a postcode really be the difference between heartbreak and happily ever after?

According to recent research, which analysed of five years of Google searches across 50 of the UK’s most populated cities, location may have a bigger impact than we think.

Honing in on frequently-searched terms such as ‘break-ups’, ‘relationship advice’, and ‘moving on’, surveillance firm Prometheus Investigationsattemped to hunt down heartache hotspots.

Based on the data, Bournemouth residents were officially judged to be the unluckiest in love, closely followed by Peterborough and York.

Cambridge and Doncaster were then in fourth and fifth, with Oxford, Norwich and Portsmouth also making the top 10 list.

It begs the question: what exactly is in the air there that’s causing so many couples to call it quits?

Coastal towns are a hotbed for divorce

Portsmouth and Bournemouth are both coastal locations with rich history and beautiful landscapes — but it seems love doesn’t always like to bloom beside the seaside.

Jason Davies, private investigator at Prometheus Investigations, tells Metro: ‘The data might seem surprising at first, especially as other studies suggest some coastal towns are actually among the UK’s most faithful. But heartbreak isn’t just about cheating. It’s about the emotional impact.’

And as it turns out, the very thing that makes these neighbourhoods feel so special and tight-knit may also be to blame for heightened relationship woes.

‘Generally, communities can feel smaller and more interconnected in coastal towns,’ Jason explains.

‘Relationships usually form through shared social circles, workplaces or friendship groups, which means when something ends, it doesn’t just disappear. You keep seeing the person, hearing about them, or being reminded of them.

‘Even when no one has done anything “wrong”, the emotional fallout can be deeper.’

A legal partnership status report published in 2025 by the Office for National Statistics backs up this theory, naming Blackpool and Hastings as two of the countries top three ‘divorce hotspots’.

Thanet in Kent (which includes Margate and Ramsgate) also features high in the ranking, with a divorce rate of 18.53%, which further indicates that coastal areas have a tendency to breed divorce.

Young, dumb, and in love

Alongside general heartbreak-focused searches, the Prometheus study also looked at the UK towns and cities most likely to be dealing with infidelity — and out of that list, eight were university towns, such as York, Walsall, and Norwich.

While there are of course lots of cases of people meeting at uni and sticking it out for the long haul, given the amount of students running riot in these areas, it makes sense that terms such as cheating and ghosting would crop up on a higher number of search histories.

According to a study from the American Psychological Association, in late adolescence, the average length of relationships is one year. However, in early adulthood (starting from 20-21 years old) romantic relationships last four times longer than at age 15.

Plus, if anyone is in their feels and turning to Google to try and answer their existential questions around love and relationships, it’s students. We can thank a mixture of far too much free time and pinot grigio for that.

‘When you’re in an environment where you’re meeting a lot of new people for the first time, figuring out who they are and what they want, relationships can feel more intense but also more fragile,’ Jason notes.

‘Generally, students are juggling academic pressure, identity shifts and new social circles all at once, and that kind of emotional intensity means that when things end, they don’t always end on the best of terms.’

Commuter towns, aka heartbreak station

Peterborough, Oxford, Swindon, in at second, sixth and eighth respectively, all have one key thing in common: they’re popular with commuters.

Most of these spots house a number of residents to travel into London at least two to three times a week for work — which as anyone who does the same will know, can be mentally, emotionally, and physically draining.

Trying to be an active and present partner while running on three hours of sleep and far too much caffeine can be difficult. And it likely leads to increased stress and friction.

In fact, multiple studies have shown how long commutes can have a tremendously negative impact on an individual’s mental health and mood, something that naturally could end up impacting a romantic relationship.

But even for those who happen to commute with their significant other, being crammed into a train carriage, half asleep and navigating sharp elbows and a cacophony of sneezes, is hardly quality time together.

Jason also poses the theory that commuters experience ‘more opportunities for temptation, whether that’s student nightlife or after-work drinks.’

He continues: ‘Alcohol lowers our inhibitions, and people are more likely to let their guard down and cross boundaries they normally wouldn’t.’

This isn’t an exact science, of course. But the very thought your postcode might be sabotaging your love life is certainly food for thought — and may be worth considering next time you get dumped.

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