Were you born lucky?

Nature has blessed him with the ability to kick a ball with breathtaking precision and power.

It's a gift honed by endless hours of practice.

But another factor in Jonny Wilkinson's prodigious success on the rugby field has been identified by scientists:

He was a May baby. According to research published yesterday, it is possible to be 'born lucky' depending on the time of year you arrived - and those born in May, like Wilkinson, are the most fortunate.

Other May babies include West Indies batsman Brian Lara, who has just set another Test record by hitting 400 runs, and England soccer captain

David Beckham (although precisely how lucky he feels at present is a matter of debate).

Meanwhile, those born in October - including Geri Halliwell and John Lennon - are said to be the unluckiest.

Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist from the University of Hertfordshire, and his researchers surveyed 40,000 Britons via an Internet questionnaire.

They found that people born between March and August considered themselves luckier than those born between September and February.

Half of those surveyed who were born in May believed that they enjoyed good fortune, making it the luckiest month, but that dropped to 43 per cent among those who arrived in October.

Wilkinson, whose drop kick clinched England's victory in the Rugby World Cup final last year, was born on May 25, 1979.

Among others born in the fifth month are Joan Collins, Paul Gascoigne, inventor James Dyson and the model Jordan. Other October-borns include Kate Winslet, Bill Wyman and Sharon Osbourne, the wife of Ozzy.

Professor Wiseman says it is significant that the May babies experienced the whole summer during their first six months, while October-borns encountered the winter.

He suggests the amount of sunshine and warm weather a baby experiences in the months immediately before and after birth may influence their attitude to life and, consequently, their ultimate success or failure.

'The environmental factors around the birth period, like exposure to sunshine and temperature, could all influence the body's biological systems, with effects extending into adulthood,' said the professor, who led the research as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival.

He added: 'The effect might be due to changes in how some parents interact with their babies during summer and winter. There is a higher instance of post-natal depression in the winter which may affect how mothers interact with their infants.

'The food mothers and everyone eats also changes in the summer, with more fresh fruit consumed, and this may impact on how the baby develops.'

Summer babies are less likely to be wrapped up, suffer illness or to be cooped up indoors.

This would allow them to be physically more adventurous and enjoy a more stimulating environment, which has been shown to be important for brain development.

The research also found that those born in the summer are likely to be higher achievers academically, more extrovert and more resilient to negative experiences such as redundancy or a minor car accident.

This contradicts the notion that people born in the autumn and winter, at the start of the school year, are likely to be higher achievers than those born in the spring or summer, who are likely to be smaller and more timid than their older classmates.

Summer and spring babies include JK Rowling (July), Tony Blair (May) and Victoria Beckham (April), while winter-borns include Vanessa Feltz (February) and Prince Charles (November).

'We thought that autumnborns would be more confident and therefore feel more lucky, but that was not supported by our findings,' said the professor.

'It may be that because those born in spring and summer have a sunnier disposition they respond better to a setback like a poor test result and bounce back by trying harder.'