TRANSPORT chaos and extreme weather conditions have caused people's moods to drop over the past six months, an Oxford-based study has found.

Global forecasting and analysis firm, Oxford Economics conducted a survey of more than 8,000 people as part of Sainsbury's Living Well Index.

The research also found that financial worries were bringing the nation's mood down with one in four parents feeling 'intensely worried' about money or debt compared with one in five just six months ago.

Central to the findings was the importance of social interaction, as over half of those with the highest 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.

Director of consulting at Oxford Economics, Ian Mulheirn - the project's lead researcher - 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."