Whether we like to admit it or not, the vast majority of people are scared of something.
Even those who claim not to be frightened of anything are likely to have a weakness in some respects, but just what are the most common phobias in the UK?
What are we really all scared of?
Ahead of Halloween coming up at the end of this month, Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire has done some digging and by using Google Search Data for the past four years, has uncovered the 20 most common phobias in the UK based on what people are searching for.
Some of the entries on the list are fairly recognisable and are perhaps the sort of fears that everyone somewhat harbours slightly, but some of the phobias are pretty unique and may even be unheard of.
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This top 10 list shows that trypophobia is, by far, the most commonly-searched phobia in the UK.
This fear of small holes and irregular patterns can seem strange to non-sufferers, but those search figures clarify that it’s a very real and serious phobia. It’s also something that product designers and developers have had to take into account as last year’s new iPhone model reportedly triggered a lot of people’s trypophobia, which probably sales figures.
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Claustrophobia, hypochondria and agoraphobia took up the next three spots on the list and all of these conditions are medically recognised by the NHS, having huge impacts on people’s lives.
Further down the list comes some of the more specific phobias and recognisable phobias.
Arachnophobia and coulrophobia – a fear of spiders and clowns, respectively – are phobias that most people can certainly sympathise with sufferers on if they’re ever unfortunate enough to encounter an eight-legged beast, or a two-legged, red-nosed entertainer.
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As well as looking at the country as a whole, Oakwood Theme Park also looked at how the most common phobias vary from region to region in an attempt to see if certain phobias are more likely to occur in certain parts of the country.
This has revealed that the North West is one of three regions in the UK where ergophobia – a fear of work – made the top 20 list.
What are the top 10 biggest fears and phobias here in the North West then?
When it comes to the fears and phobias most searched for among residents of the North West, it appears that many entires found on the UK-wide top 10 list also feature, with trypophobia again taking the top spot.
Common phobias such as claustrophobia, arachnophobia and acrophobia also feature.
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Trypophobia – Fear of Holes
Agoraphobia – Fear of Leaving the House
Hypochondria –Fear of Illness
Claustrophobia – Fear of Enclosed Spaces
Thalassophobia – Fear of the Sea
Domatophobia – Fear of the House
Arachnophobia – Fear of Spiders
Acrophobia – Fear of Heights
Photophobia – Fear of Light
Hydrophobia – Fear of Water
Does this sound about right?
By looking at the percentage increase of Google searches from 2016 to now, it was also found that every entry in the UK-wide top 10 phobia list had gone up by at least 82%.
Trypophobia was actually the slowest growing fear, followed closely by hypochondria, arachnophobia and agoraphobia.
In fact, it’s the persistent fear of the sea, thalassophobia, which is the fastest-growing fear and it’s also worth noting that nomophobia – a fear of being without a mobile device – also appears lower down the list and is expected to increase quite significantly in modern day society.
For more information, visit the Oakwood Theme Park website here.
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Manchester City announced signing of top Premier League defender Marc Guehi
Danny Jones
It looks like they’ve finally got a done deal: Manchester City have finally announced the transfer of highly sought-after defender Marc Guehi.
Man City reached an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign the increasingly established Three Lions star after emerging as a suitor in recent weeks.
Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of the impressive Premier League centre-back ramped up earlier this month, as it became apparent that they were hoping to hijack Liverpool’s prospective move for Guehi.
The Ivory Coast-born England international looked all set to arrive at Anfield back in the summer, but the deal never materialised, and now rivals City have sealed his signature instead.
Finally confirmed and fully announced on Monday, 19 January, Palace and Man City are said to have reached an agreement in principle for a base fee of approximately £20 million.
However, rumoured add-ons are thought take that total closer to £30m; either way, it’s fair to say that it’s an absolute bargain for a player of his quality.
On the other hand, the acquisition will also see Man City’s total spending reach roughly half a billion pounds over the past year alone. Staggering sums for any sporting outfit.
Not that his former London team will mind one bit, of course, as it became increasingly clear that Guehi would be leaving eventually; manager Oliver Glasner – who also seems set to depart at the end of his contract – even addressed the sale ahead of completion in a recent press conference.
Guehi will wear the number 15 shirt for Man City and has penned a deal until 2031.
With Man City currently facing multiple absences, particularly in their backline with both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias out injured, Guehi’s arrival is no doubt a welcome one.
Although many debated whether or not Pep needed to sign another centre-half, especially with two promising youth players returning from loan, supporters will nevertheless be glad to have snatched him from the clutches of Liverpool.
Over in the women’s team, they’ve also brought in a new member of the squad who could help spur on their title charge.
Can you see any more deals being down befor the end of the window?
New survey reveals half of Mancs have already given up their new year’s resolutions
Emily Sergeant
We’re into our third week of 2026 now, and according to a new survey, half of Mancs have already ditched their new year’s resolutions.
New year’s resolutions are always made with the best intentions, and it’s not like we intentionally set ourselves up to fail with them, but more often than not, that tends to be the case – and now a new survey of 1,000 Brits carried out over the past few weeks has found that 35% of us have already admitted to giving them up.
That percentage rises to a whopping 50% when narrowed down to the people of Greater Manchester.
Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, and Glasgow are the other four major cities joining Manchester in the top five list of people in each area that have stopped their 2026 challenge early.
Half of Mancs have apparently already given up their new year’s resolutions / Credit: PICRYL | Pexels
On the other end of the spectrum, it’s the cities of Southampton, Newcastle, and Edinburgh that are staying strong, with just 25%, 26% and 26% giving their new year’s resolutions up respectively, and some of the other northern cities on the list including Liverpool and Leeds.
According to new research from greetings card marketplace, Thortful, more than half of Brits (53%) expect to give up within the first three months of the year – with the hustle of busy schedules, work commitments, families, and social activities being given as reasons why.
When it comes to the reasons people provided for why they’ve given their resolutions up this year, lack of discipline tops the list at 43%, followed by just being too busy to consider them at 21%, and different mental or physical barriers in third place, as well as a change of personal circumstances and a lack of money also cited.
The majority of people cited a lack of discipline as being the reason they gave up / Credit: Andrea Piacquadio (via Pexels)
Looking forward to next year, it seems many of us want to reframe how we set our new year’s resolutions in the future.
According to the research, 32% of respondents want to ‘improve their existing qualities rather than set an unrealistic challenge’ next time around, and 16% ‘feel like there’s social pressure to change in the new year’, when in reality, they ‘don’t have to’.
Emily Sergeant -
5th October 2020 
