With the UK's lack of year round warmth you'd think that convertibles wouldn't be the most practical choice of car, however that isn't the case. In the past 10 years, the number on our roads has exploded, and it's women leading the charge.

Women's car insurance specialist Diamond looked at the cars driven by over a million motorists and discovered that the number of convertible cars driven by women across Britain over the past decade has trebled.

This huge jump in the popularity of convertibles now sees the South East having the highest concentration and Scotland the lowest.

Looking back over the years, the Mazda MX-5 led the way as the most popular choice from 1999 but had its convertible crown taken away in 2005 by the Peugeot 206cc which has ruled the roost ever since.

Diamond managing director, Sian Lewis, commented, "The 206cc was the car that started the craze for affordable folding hard top roofs, and its popularity has no doubt had an effect on the increase we've seen. Many manufacturers have followed with their versions which has also buoyed the market."

She continued, "Now the battle seems to be which car has the fastest automatic folding roof and on that measure, the new MX-5 Roadster's 12 seconds wipes the floor with the 206cc's 20 seconds. In fact, the 206's replacement, the 207cc manages only a leisurely 25 seconds."

It seems though that having the wind in your hair might not be such a great thing for your driving however, as convertible drivers are more likely to have both a claim and a conviction than non-convertible drivers