A surge of overseas holiday bookings has been prompted by the freezing UK weather, according to weekend reports.
Travel Counsellors reported a 20% increase in bookings, with a large rise in the number of consumers looking to get away for a break over Christmas and into January.
Destinations outside the eurozone such as Egypt and Turkey were proving popular as well as all-inclusive trips, according to the home working agency. More people are booking 10-11 night breaks rather than traditional two week holidays, it reported.
Lowcostholidays.com said its website traffic was up 60% since the first snow fell. Top searches were for breaks to the Canary Islands, Dubai and Thailand while Madrid and Barcelona were the most popular short break destinations.
Hotels.com reported a 700% rise in searches on its site for holidays to Miami over this time last year. The next-biggest rise was for Granada in Spain followed by Florence and Orlando.
A Hotels.com spokeswoman said: “With the cold weather predicted to stay over December, it’s evident holidaymakers want to get as far afield as possible.”