Loud music, shouting, stomping feet, and banging doors—while these may be everyday sounds to some, they’re a living nightmare for others. A new survey reveals that more than 6 in 10 (63%) of people in Scotland find noisy neighbours to be the most irritating sound.

The study, conducted by electronics and tech retailer Currys surveyed 2,000 people across the UK to uncover the nation’s biggest noise-related grievances and right after noisy neighbours, the next most annoying sound is screaming children as 62% of Scots say this annoys them.

While noisy neighbours and their screaming children are “other people’s noise,” snoring—the third most annoying noise—isn’t as easy to deal with, as it’s probably your partner’s fault. That sound annoys more than half (56%) of Scots.

Top 10 most annoying sounds according to Scots

Rank	Sounds	% of Scots that find it annoying
1	Noisy neighbours	63%
2	Children screaming	61%
3	Snoring	56%
4	Car alarms/House alarms	53%
5	Construction sounds (e.g., jackhammers, drills)	49%
6	Loud chewing	47%
7	Cutlery squeaking/scraping on a plate	47%
8	Other people’s music (e.g., from phones or headphones in public)	45%
9	Dog barking	42%
10	Slurping	41%

Car and home alarms landed just after snoring on the annoying top list, with more than half (53%) of Scots agreeing it annoys them, followed by construction sounds—a noise nuisance for nearly half of Scots (49%).

Other top offenders include loads of eating-related sounds like loud chewing and slurping, along with an old-time classic—cutlery squeaking on a plate. Dogs barking and people playing their music too loud also made the top 10 list.

83% of people in Scotland say excessive noise negatively impacts their physical health

The findings highlight a serious issue: nearly a quarter of people in the country (24%) say they suffer from stress and anxiety due to high noise levels where they live, while a staggering 83% believe it also negatively impacts their physical health.

But Scots aren’t simply suffering in silence. More than half (51%) admit to asking a neighbour or local business to “keep it down,” while more than 1 in 10 (14%) have gone a step further by filing an official noise complaint with their local council.

The survey results align with recent official figures, as the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health (CIEH) recorded 356,367 noise complaints across 144 local authorities in England in its most recent study—an average of 149 complaints per 10,000 people.

Too loud to sleep, read, or even watch TV

According to the survey,79% of Scots believe noise has a definite negative impact on their mood.

Unsurprisingly, sleep disruption is the most frustrating consequence of noise (62%), as interrupted sleep can lead to increased heart rate, heightened stress, difficulty falling back asleep, and reduced focus the next day.

Beyond sleep, 4 in 10 (40%) of people say they hate noise interruptions when they’re trying to read, more than a third (36%) when at the cinema, and slightly less people (34%) find noise disturbing when they are watching TV.

Noise also affects productivity, with 15% of respondents in the region saying it disrupts studying and exams, while 10% report that it interferes with work.

Music to the ears: rain, fire and the sound of silence

A 2021 study with 59 participants found that working in silence resulted in the lowest cognitive load and stress, compared to working with speech or background noise.

The Currys survey is further proof that people long for silence: more than half (51%) of respondents in Scotland listed it as the most enjoyable sound. The only sound they love slightly more is rainfall, with over half (52%) saying they find it enjoyable.

Top 10 most enjoyable sounds according to Scottish residents

Rank	Sounds	% of Scots that find it enjoyable
1	Rainfall	52%
2	Silence	51%
3	Crackling fire	48%
4	Birdsong	46%
5	Crashing waves	39%
6	Green noise (a steady gentle hum or rumble, a natural sound like wind or ocean waves)	38%
7	The wind	37%
8	Cats purring	36%
9	Leaves rustling	32%
10	Water bubbling	30%