The Signal

UK Movement Intelligence by Data Jam

August 2026

Audience movement trends across the UK

Like-for-Like Growth

+26.9%

Year-over-year increase across matched locations. 2026 finished ahead on every day of the month, and the weekend led the growth.

August 2025

323M

impressions, like-for-like

August 2026

410M

impressions, like-for-like

Peak Day

15.7M

1 Aug, Saturday

Avg Daily

13.2M

+27% vs 2025 (10.4M)

Why like-for-like?

We compare only locations that were active in both August 2025 and August 2026: same venues, same measurement zones. This isolates genuine audience growth from network expansion, giving you the true market signal. The matched locations in this report represent a consistent, comparable set across both years.

Daily Movement

August 2026 vs 2025, with event overlays

Month’s biggest day (Saturday 1 August)

Chart shows 1–31 August 2026 against the same dates in 2025.

What Drove Movement

✅

Ahead on Every Day

All 31 days of August beat 2025

August delivered 410.3M impressions across the matched set, against 323.4M a year earlier. That’s +26.9%, and 2026 came out ahead on every single day of the month. The average day rose from 10.4M to 13.2M.

Avg day 2025

10.4M

like-for-like

Avg day 2026

13.2M

+26.9%

Days ahead

31 / 31

every day

📈

The Weekend Led the Growth

Sundays +35.6%, Saturdays +30.8%

Weekdays have carried most of 2026’s growth so far. In August the weekend took the lead: Sundays averaged 11.9M, up +35.6% on last August, and Saturdays rose +30.8% to 13.8M. Every weekday grew by more than 23% too.

Mon13.3M avg+28.6%

Tue13.4M avg+24.3%

Wed13.4M avg+23.7%

Thu13.2M avg+23.3%

Fri13.9M avg+23.3%

Sat13.8M avg+30.8%

Sun11.9M avg+35.6%

🏖️

The Holidays Started Strong

The first full week of August averaged 14.7M a weekday

With schools out across the UK, the first full week was the month’s busiest: weekdays from 3 to 7 August averaged 14.7M, and Saturday 1 August set the high at 15.66M. Weekday audiences then settled at around 13M for the rest of the holidays, still running 28% to 32% ahead of the same weeks in 2025.

☀️

36.2°C and Still Ahead

London’s hottest day of the summer, and audiences kept coming

London reached 36.2°C on Thursday 13 August, the hottest day of the summer. The network still delivered 13.0M impressions, +22% on the same date last year, and the next day climbed to 14.8M, +34.5%. Warm weather moves audiences around; it doesn’t remove them.

Day of Week

Average daily impressions by day of week: like-for-like, same weekday in each year

Mon

+28.6%

Tue

+24.3%

Wed

+23.7%

Thu

+23.3%

Fri

+23.3%

Sat

+30.8%

Sun

+35.6%

Every day of the week grew. Sunday led August at +35.6% YoY and Saturday followed at +30.8%. Friday stayed the biggest day by volume at 13.9M average, and every weekday grew by more than 23%.

Time of Day

Average impressions per hour, August 2026: weekdays against weekends

With schools on holiday, weekday audiences climb from 6am and hold close to 1M impressions an hour from noon to 7pm, peaking at 1pm. Weekends start later but run bigger through the middle of the day, peaking at 2pm.

For planners

What August means for your bookings

Friday and Saturday are the biggest days of the week, averaging 13.9M and 13.8M impressions.

Holiday weekdays run close to 1M impressions an hour from noon to 7pm, so daytime slots deliver as well as the evening.

Hot weather doesn’t dent audiences: London’s 36.2°C day still ran +22% ahead of last year.

Methodology

Data sourced from Data Jam's UK measurement network across retail, leisure, entertainment, transport, and hospitality venues. Like-for-like comparison uses only locations active in both August 2025 and August 2026. All impressions are raw audience counts; the only estimates are any incomplete collection dates noted below. Year-over-year figures compare all 31 dates. Collection was incomplete on three 2025 dates (2–3 and 31 August), so those days are estimated from the average of the same weekday that month; August 2026's figures are complete. Day-of-week averages compare the same weekday in each year. 2026 outperformed 2025 on all 31 date pairings. Temperature series: London daily maxima (Open-Meteo archive). Time-of-day averages use complete days only.