Edinburgh and London have been named the UK's outage capitals.

Over the past 12 months, almost half (48 per cent) of the residents in the two cities have suffered a broadband blackout, according to Uswitch. 

In contrast, if you want a reliable connection, it's best to head to Belfast. 

There, less than a fifth (18 per cent) of residents were unable to get online this year. 

'There are a number of different reasons internet outages can happen, including faulty connection lines, high internet traffic, weather events, overlooked software errors, widespread infrastructure failures and even occasionally malicious cyberattacks,' said Max Beckett, broadband expert at Uswitch. 

'The good news is that compensation is available if you suffer a significant outage. 

'If your connection has completely stopped working and isn't fixed after two working days, you could be entitled to compensation of £9.76 per day.'

So, how does the connection in your closest city stack up? 

For the study, Uswitch surveyed 2,000 people living across the UK about their experiences with broadband outages over the last 12 months. 

Overall, 41 per cent of respondents said they had been disconnected at least once. 

To put that into perspective, that's the equivalent of 22.4 million people across the UK. 

Breaking the results down by location, Uswitch found that Edinburgh and London are the cities where you're most likely to experience an outage, followed by Bristol, Norwich, Liverpool and Manchester. 

At the other end of the scale, people in Belfast are the least likely to be disconnected, followed by those in Cardiff, Brighton, Sheffield, and Leeds. 

Despite the prevalence of outages, 78 per cent of respondents said they did not receive compensation. 

'With the majority of the UK's big broadband providers signed up to Ofcom's auto-compensation scheme, we would hope to see customers quickly reimbursed if they suffer outages and are eligible,' Mr Beckett said. 

'If you're not satisfied with how your internet supplier handles outages, it may be time to vote with your feet and look for other, more reliable options elsewhere.'

If your broadband gets disconnected, Mr Beckett advises taking three steps to get back online as quickly and as easily as possible. 

As obvious as it sounds, the best thing to do when you first notice an outage is to check your router. 

'First things first, check it's a genuine broadband outage and not a problem with your home broadband equipment,' the Uswitch expert advised. 

'Make sure your router is clear of obstacles, as this could block its Wi-Fi signal. If it already is, try resetting it to see if the connection comes back.'

If there doesn't seem to be a problem with your router, you should then contact your provider. 

'If everything is working properly at home, it’s time to reach out to your broadband provider to find out if the problem is just your connection or a wider network issue,' Mr Beckett said. 

Finally, make sure you have a good backup plan in place. 

The expert added: 'It's good to have a contingency plan in place if your broadband cuts out for more than a few hours. 

'If you have good mobile signal and enough data allowance, you could tether another device to your smartphone. Many providers also offer Wi-Fi backups for a small extra monthly fee.'