The UK is lagging behind many European countries when it comes to mobile internet speed. According to new data, the average download speed in the UK is 5Mb, which is meagre compared to Denmark’s 22.3Mb, which is the fastest in Europe.

In fact, the data, from connection quality measuring app Netradar, indicates Scandinavia is leading the way when it comes to mobile internet download speeds, with Denmark’s average outstripping the UK average of 18.7Mb for home broadband and Norway the third fastest country in Europe, averaging 13.8Mb.

The UK also ranked behind Switzerland (16.6Mb), France (8.4Mb), Germany (6.1Mb) and Italy (5.4Mb), but fared slightly better than Spain (4.7Mb). Spare a thought for those in Ukraine – the largest country entirely in Europe also has the slowest mobile internet, averaging just 0.3Mb.

The data also showed that Three is the fastest mobile network in the UK, with average download speeds of 6.3Mb. It spilt EE in to Orange and T-Mobile (both are run by EE in the UK) as apparently sim cards can be configured differently, and the latter was second fastest an average speed of 5.6Mb.

Orange came in fourth with 3.6Mb, losing out on fourth to Vodafone, with 4.9Mb, but avoiding the wooden spoon as O2 averaged just 3.1Mb.

Professor Jukka Manner, Netradar project leader at Aalto University in Finland, said: “Several factors explain why mobile phone users reach different internet speeds in different countries.

“Mobile internet speed depends not only on mobile network operators, but also on devices used, speed limitations in the subscriptions, user’s distance from the operator’s antenna, landscape, available radio technologies and how congested the mobile network is.”

The figures were calculated by compiling data regular folk provided about the quality of their mobile internet throughout 2014 using Netradar. However, its accuracy is disputed by EE, O2 and Vodafone due to some of it being over a year old and the relatively small number of people who submitted it.

Want to know how fast your mobile network is? You can find out in seconds with our mobile speed tester. If you’re reading this on a computer, remember to switch to your phone before you use it. Oh, and the iPhone prize draw is all done now. Sorry!

 ByKelvin Goodson