A tenth of Brits will lose or break 10 or more umbrellas in their lifetime

A survey of 2,000 UK adults has shown the umbrella is one of the nation’s most lost items - and 28 per cent of Brits have turned up to an important work meeting soaking wet as they didn’t have a brolly. 

Despite almost a fifth of Brits owning three umbrellas, one in 10 have spent up to £50 on replacements. 

James Latham from Premier Inn, which carried out the nationwide study on Brits’ brolly use, said: "With sixty per cent of Brits owning two or more umbrellas it seems they still can’t help losing and breaking them and needing to buy new ones on the spur of the moment. 

“Our survey shows people never learn when it comes to keeping their umbrellas safe, with people losing them, forgetting them and or never seeing them again after lending them to friends. 

“Umbrellas are one of the most commonly requested items from our reception team so we decided to team up with DripDrop to introduce their brolly rental service into some of our hotels to help our guests avoid turning up soaked to everything from job interviews to weddings.”

Almost a fifth of those polled (18 per cent) said they had broken or lost an umbrella after just one outing. 

Buses, trains, restaurants and offices are the top places Brits lose brollies – never to see them again. 

More than a fifth have lost one in a shop, someone else’s car and a café, with nine per cent misplacing one at a child’s play centre. 

Of those who said they had broken a brolly, a quarter admitted it was their fault for opening it 'too vigorously'.