Delayed trains and snow are making British people miserable, a new survey has revealed.

Researchers found that transport chaos and extreme weather which stops us from seeing family and friends has seen the mood of the nation plummet over the past six months.

And despite household incomes remaining broadly unchanged, many people also have financial worries with one in four parents now ‘intensely worried’ about money or debt.

The survey also found that millennials are twice as likely to worry about money or debt than baby boomers.

More than 8,000 people were surveyed for the bi-annual Sainsbury’s Living Well Index in partnership with researchers at Oxford Economics, which found the nation’s well-being dropped 0.5 points to 60.7.

Central to the survey’s findings was the importance of social interaction, as over half of those with the highest index scores saw friends several times a week whereas those at the bottom did so once a month or less.

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Factors that got in the way of quality time with loved ones, such as delayed trains and bad weather conditions, were behind the decreased mood across the country.

Winter months are particularly to blame, as the cold and unpredictable weather meant more of us had less time for face-to-face interactions.

Ian Mulheirn, director of consulting at Oxford Economics and lead researcher on the project, said: ‘It stands to reason that we all feel happier in the summer months, but the analysis suggests this is partly because we socialise more and spend more time outside, which we’re less able to do in winter.

‘And in an age of unprecedented digital distraction, it appears that real, human connections are far more beneficial to our well-being than the connections we make online.’

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