Petrol and diesel prices both hit record highs today, according to government figures.
The average price of a litre of petrol is now 144.9p and diesel 148.84p.
The previous record for petrol was 143.7p - set just last week.
For diesel the former top price per litre was 148.04p back in April 2012, according to figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy today.
The changes mean it now costs petrol drivers 34p extra to fill up an average 55-litre family car than it did last week - from £79.03 to £79.69.
For diesel car owners, the figure is an extra 73p - with prices going up from £81.11 to £81.84.
Drivers may even pay more than this for fuel, depending on where they are filling up.
In January petrol cost just 115.3p a litre on average, and diesel 119.9p.
The dramatic hike has been driven primarily by the oil price doubling from around $40 (£29.42) a barrel a year ago to $85 now – but some analysts predict it could hit $90 by the end of the year.
How are you affected by the rising cost of fuel? Let us know in the comments
The price hike shown in government figures echoes one from the RAC motoring organisation, which also says fuel costs are rising.
The RAC also said the big four supermarkets were also to blame for the rises late last month.
Collectively, they upped the price of unleaded by more than 9p a litre and diesel by more than 10p to averages of 142.18p and 145.28p respectively by October 25
Asda had the cheapest petrol at 140.98p, only slightly lower than Sainsbury’s at 141.68p. Sainsbury’s, however, offered the lowest price diesel at 144.37p, just slightly less than Asda which charged 144.57p at the end of October.
The average price of motorway petrol was 158.43p on 31 October, with a record price set the day before at 158.56p. Diesel closed October at a new all-time high of 163.08p.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “October 2021 set records for all the wrong reasons and was a horrible month for drivers with both petrol and diesel prices hitting new heights."
Around one-third of the cost of a litre of fuel is tax.
Petrol and diesel are both taxed at 57.95p per litre.
The news of rising fuel prices comes as families weather an overall rise in the cost of living.
Sky high gas prices are pushing bills up for millions of households – while leaving others without an energy supplier altogether.
Meanwhile consumers could soon pay at least £14.63 extra for their weekly 'big shop' if supermarkets pass on looming price rises.
Households are also dealing with the soaring cost of inflation.
Inflation will soar to 4% this winter spelling a cost of living squeeze for millions of families, according to chancellor Rishi Sunak last month.
