Following the path of most online products, Twitter is out with the biggest trends on its network during 2013.

Twitter highlighted several areas, including tweets-per-second, most retweeted, and what trended around the social network during the year. What were Twitter users in the UK tweeting about this year? Plenty of sports.

Real Madrid's 2-1 defeat over Manchester United earned the top spot in terms of UK tweets-per-second, as Twitter users celebrated knocking Manchester United out of the Champions League.

Following in second place was the moment the clock struck midnight on 1 January to bring in the new rear - how cliched. Next was Andy Murray's win at Wimbledon, with England's 2-2 draw in June coming in fourth.

Read: Facebook 2013 year in review

The world’s most popular message of the year, which peaked at 408,000 retweets, came from Glee star Lea Michele with a message thanking fans for their support following the death of her co-star and partner Cory Monteith. Fast and Furious star Paul Walker's death followed with the second most retweets, at 400,000, when his official Twitter account confirmed the car accident that killed him.

In terms of trending topics on Twitter, tweets to remember those who have died frequented the top charts. Users bid farewell to poet and Nobel literature laureate Seamus Heaney, Scots author Iain Banks, Glee actor Cory Monteith, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Sopranos leading man James Gandolfini and, most recently, former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Of course, 2013 was the year in which the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge welcomed a #RoyalBaby into the world, and plenty of tweets subsequently abounded.