Come friendly climes and smile on Slough… it’s most definitely fit for humans now!

Its reputation has been battered by The Office and the infamously savage Sir John Betjeman verse.

But while the poet despaired ‘Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!/It isn’t fit for humans now’, residents of the Berkshire town have something to celebrate.

For Slough has topped a list of the most desirable place in Britain to live during the dreary winter months, at least in terms of its climate.

Researchers studied Met Office data for average temperatures, rainfall, hours of sunshine, frost levels and winds for the 50 biggest UK towns and cities for December, January and February.

Best: Slough’s climate makes it desirable, despite its portrayal in Ricky Gervais’s The Office. Researchers found it has less rain and frost than anywhere else in Britain

Worst: Leeds is said to have the least hospitable winter weather, due to a combination of cold winds, high rainfall and freezing temperatures. It scored minus 460

They found that Slough enjoys the highest average winter temperature, around 8C, has less rain and frost than anywhere else in Britain and milder winter winds.

The researchers gave each place a ‘warm winter index’ based on all the factors, with Slough scoring 540. 

Leeds rated worst, due to a combination of cold winds, high rainfall and freezing temperatures. It scored minus 460. Poole and Sunderland came joint second with Southend-on-Sea fourth and Ipswich fifth.

At the inhospitable end of the table came Stoke, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Huddersfield .

Slough mayor Preston Brooker said he wasn’t surprised at the findings, adding: ‘We have very clean air here and we get a lot of fresh, sunny days and that definitely makes the Slough winters more bearable.

‘People who take the mickey out of Slough should come and see it for themselves. Slough doesn’t deserve the reputation it has. We’ve got beautiful open spaces within easy reach and that alone makes the winters better. Slough is a wonderful place.’

Ricky Gervais did the town no favours when he set his sitcom The Office, in which he played useless boss David Brent, on the Slough Trading Estate

Helena Maniglia from boiler firm HeatingForce, which conducted the study, said: ‘Slough seems to have become synonymous with the grim side of life, but our figures don’t lie and the reality is the town has a very sunny outlook.’

Sir John’s poem, simply called Slough, was published in 1937 as a protest at the industrialisation of the countryside. 

And Ricky Gervais did the town no favours when he set his sitcom The Office, in which he played useless boss David Brent, on the Slough Trading Estate.