Read: ONS study finds 3.7m over-16s in Britain often or always feel lonely

Almost one in 14 people aged 16 or over in Great Britain say they are lonely, up 40% since last spring, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Between April and May last year one in 20 people aged 16-plus surveyed said they felt lonely “often” or “always”, and that increased significantly between October and February this year to a proportion equating to 3.7 million people.

The deleterious effects of loneliness have increasingly been highlighted in recent years, with warnings that it can be as bad for someone’s health as having a long-term illness such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

The ONS found that areas with a high proportion of younger people and those with higher rates of unemployment tended to have greater levels of loneliness, with the effects in both cases particularly strong in urban areas outside London.

Read the full story in The Guardian

Good health and well-being is one of 14 Levelling Up Goals launched to set out clear objectives for the UK's Levelling Up challenge.