SOUTHAMPTON is the fourth most stressed city in the UK, research has revealed.

The city has been revealed as the fourth most stressed in the UK, with 51% saying they’re stressed every day.

It has been revealed by Protectivity that 74% of the UK population have felt overwhelmed or too stressed to cope at some point in the last year.

The company has worked with Protectivity to reveal the most stressed cities and occupations across the UK, as well as looking at what different generations are worrying about most.

Cardiff was revealed as the most stressed city with 55% of the population admitting they were stressed, which was closely followed by Edinburgh and Manchester at 53%.

Leeds was revealed as the fifth most stressed city with 50%, followed by Sheffield at 49%, Birmingham at 48%, Plymouth and Glasgow at 46%, and London at 44%.

The research highlighted that 16-24-year-olds are the most stressed age group, who suffer the most from stress surrounding their personal appearance, social media and relationships.

Concerns over work, children and family fall between 35 to 44-year-olds and health falls in the 55+ category.

HR, legal and retail, catering and leisure are the most stressed professions – HR takes the lead with 79% of employees claiming to be stressed.

A total of 63% of legal professionals admitted they were stressed, followed by 54% of retail, leisure and catering staff, 53% of IT and telecom professionals, and 52% of health care workers.

It also revealed that 39% of those who are unemployed are stressed about their work situation.

The nation’s top three stress-reducing activities have also been revealed as: watching TV/films at 53%; listening to music at 46%; taking a bath or shower 32%; reading at 31%; playing with pets at 25%; eating treats at 25%; cooking at 21%; exercising at 20%; drinking alcohol at 19%; and socialising at 14%.