The mood of Britain has declined over the past six months due to on-going transport chaos and extreme weather conditions preventing us from socialising with family and friends, researchers reveal.

Financial worries have also contributed to the increasingly sombre mood of Brits, despite household incomes remaining broadly unchanged.

One in four parents now feel "intensely worried" about money or debt compared with one in five just six months ago.

The survey also found that millennials are twice as likely to worry intensely about money or debt than baby boomers, amid growing financial insecurity for younger generations.

Over 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.

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."