UK petrol prices have risen to 160p a litre, the highest level since November 2022, as renewed conflict in the Middle East pushes up global oil costs. The RAC said the cost of filling a family-size car with unleaded petrol has risen to £88, while diesel has jumped 14.5p to 179p and is forecast to reach 185p within weeks.

Fuel prices had fallen to 151p in early July after the US and Iran agreed a ceasefire in mid-June. However, Donald Trump has in recent weeks resumed strikes on Iran, prompting retaliation and raising tensions in the strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping route. Brent crude rose above $90 a barrel on Friday as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck two tankers in the strait.

The price rise comes as 20.5 million UK drivers are expected to take to the roads during the peak holiday season. An AA spokesperson said the timing was "very bad", though fuel prices have been tracking wholesale costs more closely since the government introduced a mandatory fuel price reporting scheme in May, Zoe Wood reports for Guardian business.