Drivers are now paying an average of 152p per litre for petrol and an eye watering 181.2p for diesel, according to data in the middle of this week from RAC Fuel Watch.
And it is possible this could only get worse with No 10 planning for 'all eventualities' in case of possible oil shortages leading to potential fuel rationing.
To try and keep the cost of filling up as low as possible, the Government is encouraging people to use its Fuel Finder scheme, which collects and openly publishes near real-time petrol and diesel price data.
Now it has published a list of the third-party fuel-price apps and websites using the data, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves stating: 'My priority is protecting family finances and standing up for drivers - and Fuel Finder puts power back into their hands.'
They include Confused.com, DriveScore, Fuel Finder UK, Fuel Spy, MotorMouth, PetrolPrices.com and RAC Fuel Watch.
But which app is the best? And is the data actually correct? We take a look at five of the apps the government recommends, so you know which one will suit your driving needs the best.
Today the Government has published a list of the third-party fuel-price apps and websites using its Fuel Finder data. We take a look at the recommended apps - is the data correct?
1. Fuel Finder UK
- No Trustpilot rating yet
- Although powered by official UK Government Open Data, Fuel Finder has been built by a 'solo developer who is self-funding the whole site and app' and helps you 'find cheap fuel near you'.
- Put in a location or use its in-built location tracking service to find forecourts near you, and filter by type of fuel, search radius, or amenities (such as 24hr or WC)
- Set up an account and you can plan your trip with 'smarter' fuel stops.
- There's also a free trial option for the Pro version which lets you watch your regular stations for free price drops and be notified when the price changes.
- You can also get community 'insights' from the other users and drivers and the app's 'price prediction insight'.
- It's available on Android and iOS.
2. Fuel Spy
- No Trustpilot or App Store ratings yet
- Fuel Spy calls itself 'your ultimate fuel price tracker'. Like Fuel Finder, it uses government data sourced every 30 minutes.
- Based around its live-updating virtual map, the online platform is sort of a Google Maps of petrol.
- The visual-based app displays the local petrol stations to your location (1.8m postcodes are searchable on the platform) with an icon and live pricing. Over 4,500 petrol station forecourts are on the app.
- You can filter by fuel type, brands, postcode, and suburbs. And you can either share your location or enter your own location.
- It promises to help you 'pinpoint the best deals in seconds' and says that FuelSpy users 'save an average of £250 a year'.
- Find it on your preferred web browser.
3. MotorMouth
- No Trustpilot rating, 4* App Store (4 ratings)
- Another government recommended app, MotorMouth used the government's Fuel Finder data to display live pricing. The greener the displayed prices the cheaper the fuel, with expensive forecourts showing up as red.
- Again, you can filter by brands and fuels and stylise the map in a way that you like.
- You can study the past prices thanks to average charts from the last 60 days.
- A nice app feature is that you can update prices and help the community, making it easier for everyone to find cheap fuel.
- MotorMouth is available on iOS and Android.
4. PetrolPrices
- Trustpilot rating 4.6/5 (reviews 698)
- PetrolPrices slogan is 'why spend more on fuel than you need to'. It claims to save the 'average PetrolPrices user 'over £200 on fuel a year'.
- PetrolPrices gets its fuel prices from multiple sources including the station themselves and the community that uses the platform.
- The free app allows you to find cheap fuel near you as the app compares prices locally or at specific destinations across the UK.
- You can filter by brand or fuel type and sort by distance instead of price in case you need fuel quickly. And you can check the facilities too.
- Save your filters for next time you search if you want as well.
- A good feature is that you can leave station reviews and rate forecourts, helping other fellow drivers. This app also gives you MOT alerts and discount offers into your inbox.
5. DriveScore
- 4.1/5 Trustpilot rating (reviews 2,235) & 5* App Store rating (21k ratings)
- DriveScore is a little different as it learns how you drive and recommends ways to save across your car's running costs - from insurance to MOT and tax.
- A new feature is the one that lets you find your cheapest nearby petrol station and fill your tank for less.
- It uses live data to display local petrol and diesel prices, allowing users to compare costs at stations and avoid overpaying. It utilises government-backed data where stations report price changes within 30 minutes.
- There are over 500,000 users in the UK and is trusted by 20million users worldwide.
- It's available on Android and iOS.
Are they accurate on petrol pricing?
These apps are helpful, and the Government's Fuel Finder is a big step towards helping drivers save money on fuel but, like most new apps, there are still teething problems.
Some fuel stations are shown outside of the UK and others are shown in the sea.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, explains: 'Whilst a batch of erroneous map co-ordinates putting a petrol station closer to the South Pole than Southern England might raise a wry smile, repeated anomalies in Fuel Finder flag an urgent need to address data quality issues or risk them undermining this potentially valuable service.
'For a flagship project like Fuel Finder we'd expect the designers to be at the top of their digital game - but the presence of errors that could fatally undermine confidence in the data suggest the system is missing some simple, pretty standard sense-checks that stops mistakes like these making their way into the system in the first place.
'For Fuel Finder to succeed as the trusted source of fuel price data that will be picked up and incorporated into motorists' websites, apps and satnavs it needs need to be rock solid, why else would developers risk their reputations by adopting it?
'Fuel Finder has arrived at a moment when motorists and ministers are all laser-focused on pump prices, it might happily turn out to be just the right service at the right time, but only if it can be guaranteed to produce the right data.'
This is Money would therefore recommend using these services as a good base point but advise drivers to double check any potential anomalies and contribute to the community functions in the apps to update errors and help out iron out issues for future users.
Where is fuel the cheapest?
Petrol price gap between supermarkets and rivals has widened, the latest analysis from the AA has found.
Average petrol prices at supermarkets have opened a 7.55p-a-litre gap with non-supermarket rivals, up 1.5p on the week before, fuel price data provided to the AA shows.
The data, which is averaged from the CMA interim scheme, shows that supermarkets last week averaged 144.5p a litre for petrol as opposed to an average of 152.05p among oil company and independent sites.
The week before, the petrol price difference was 6.05p, with supermarket petrol averaging 139.9p versus 145.95p elsewhere. In the week before hostilities broke out in the Middle East, the supermarket versus non-supermarket price gap was 5.4p.
Diesel at supermarkets last week averaged 169.5p as opposed to 178.3p elsewhere.
This was a key reason why drivers were drawn to the supermarkets last weekend, leading to pressure on supply at those forecourts.