Outer Hebrides is '˜the happiest place in the UK'

The Outer Hebrides has been named the happiest place in the UK.

Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, where residents have been named the UK's happiest. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

The finding comes from the Office for National Statistics, which questioned 158,000 people and asked respondents how satisfied they were with life, to what extent they felt the things they do in life were worthwhile and how happy and how anxious they felt the previous day.

The results showed that people who make their home on the islands off the west coast of Scotland and in a few parts of Northern Ireland are happier than anywhere else, even though both areas are often hit by bad weather.

Residents in the Outer Hebrides and Western Isles rated 8.24 out of 10 for happiness.

Mid & East Antrim in Northern Ireland were one behind with a 8.21 rating, while Newark & Sherwood, Purbeck and the Orkney Islands ranked next with happiness ratings of 8.11, 8.06 and 8.05 respectively.

The least happy areas are East Northamptonshire, which scored 7.01 for happiness, followed by Fenland, in Cambridgeshire, and Burnley, with 7.06 and 7.07 out of 10 respectively.

Liverpool, Corby, Wolverhampton and Greenwich all scored 7.08, placing them in joint fourth place for the least joyful areas of the UK.

And people in London were revealed to be among the most anxious, rating their anxiety at an average of 3.04 out of 10.