Mapped: the happiest parts of Britain

Source: Office of National Statistics survey on personal well-being (2013/14). 

The map above shows us the happiest and unhappiest areas in Britain. People were asked to rate their happiness out of 10, and an average was taken for each area. It highlights the unhappiest areas in Britain:

1. Barrow-in-Furness - Cumbria - 6.68
2. Dartford - Kent - 6.81
3. Maldon - Essex - 6.84
4. Torridge - Devon - 6.84
5. South Ribble - Lancashire - 6.86
6. Forest Heath - Suffolk - 6.87
7. Hackney - London - 6.87
8. Pendle - Lancashire - 6.96
9. Welwyn Hatfield - Hertfordshire - 6.99
10. Broxbourne - Hertfordshire - 7.00

It also shows us the happiest areas of Britain, which brings up a couple of patterns:

1. Babergh - Suffolk - 8.23
2. Orkney Islands - North Scotland - 8.06
3. North Dorset - Dorset - 8.06
4. Cotswold - Gloucestershire - 8.03
5. Stratford-on-Avon - Warwickshire - 8.04
6. Eilean Siar - Outer Hebrides - 8.02
7. Staffordshire Moorlands - Staffordshire - 8.02
8. Ryedale - North Yorkshire - 7.95
9. Richmondshire - Yorkshire Dales - 7.94
10. Fylde - Lancashire - 7.94

Here we can see that areas in Scotland and Yorkshire seem happiest - a trend reflected in the map. 

The three happiest areas in the United Kingdom overall are actually all in Northern Ireland. People in Fermanagh (8.37), Antrim (8.42) and Moyle (8.43) gave the highest answers to the question.