More people will die this week than any other time of the year, figures suggest

One person dies every 44 seconds during second week of January, mainly due to cold weather and increase in illness

The second week in January sees an average of 13,670 deaths across the UK, according to ONS figures (Getty iStock/ kzenon)

More people will die this week than at any other time of the year in the UK with one death every 44 seconds, figures suggest.

Figures from the ONS show that the second week in January sees an average of 13,670 deaths, mainly due to cold weather and an increase in illness.

The rest of the year sees an average of 9,756 deaths every week.

And this means that many families will need to gather funds to pay for funerals at this time of year.

A separate study by financial services company SunLife revealed that the average basic funeral now costs £4,271, meaning that a total of £58m could be spent on funerals across the country this week.

The cost of funerals in the UK across the month of January as a whole could reach more than £229m.

SunLife marketing director Ian Atkinson said: “This week will see more deaths than any other week in the year.

"And for those families dealing with bereavement, searching through quotes is probably the last thing on their minds.

“You need to choose a funeral director fairly quickly so they can take away the body, and most people have not thought about which one they would use.

“But with the average funeral now costing £4,271, it is crazy to think we are just paying the bill without thinking about whether the funeral services they are using are right, for them.”

Research carried out by SunLife found that 37 per cent of people have made no provision for their own funeral, instead leaving their families to cover the costs.

And of those who did plan for their own funeral, many did not leave enough to cover the total bill.

It also emerged that rather than shopping around, most families will go with the first funeral director they speak to without getting any other quotes.

Just one in five will get more than one quote before booking a funeral.

SWNS