UK diesel has moved into painful new territory for working drivers. After successive record averages earlier in the week, RAC Foundation analysis of the Government’s Fuel Finder data says the national average finally passed £2 a litre at 8am on Tuesday 30 September 2026 — a psychological barrier that many taxi and private hire operators will feel every time they fill up.
That comes on the heels of a New AutoMotive read of the same Fuel Finder tool, which put the average at 199.53p a litre. That figure already sat above the previous high of 199.18p recorded a day earlier, and ahead of the June 2022 peak of 199.09p after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Crude spent much of September above $100 a barrel amid the US–Iran war, and that has fed straight through to the pump.
What forecourts are charging
The pain is no longer confined to a few expensive sites. New AutoMotive said more than 2,200 forecourts — more than one in four — were already charging £2 a litre or more. At least one £2-plus pump showed up in 559 of the UK’s 650 constituencies, and in 148 of those areas at least half of local forecourts had crossed the line.
The regional spread is stark. Western Isles (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) averaged 211.9p a litre, with 11 of 12 forecourts over £2. Even Watford, the cheapest constituency in that analysis, still averaged 191.2p. FairFuelUK and other trade coverage have pointed to many pumps showing between £2.05 and £2.18, with real-time indexes already above £2 while older weekly government averages lag behind.
Why it matters for cabbies
For drivers living on diesel, the arithmetic is blunt. Filling a typical 55-litre tank at around the latest averages costs about £110. The RAC Foundation says roughly 86p of every £2 litre goes to the Treasury in fuel duty and VAT — duty is currently 52.95p a litre on diesel and petrol, with VAT charged on both the fuel and the duty. Petrol sat around 174.7p a litre on the Foundation’s figures.
FairFuelUK is pressing for an emergency 10p-a-litre duty cut rather than waiting for the Autumn Budget on 28 October, arguing that delay hits hauliers and other diesel users hardest. Until anything changes, drivers comparing local prices before they fill can use the Government’s Fuel Finder tool: Fuel Finder