The wet weather in the UK during August led to a 23% year-on-year increase in air travel spend, new data shows.
People booked last-minute breaks and future trips, according to the latest spending report from the Nationwide.
The building society found that the total outlay on air travel was worth more than £73 million, although the figure was down by 8% on July but up 23% on August 2022. Total transactions were up 26% on the same month last year but down by 4% on the previous month.
Total spend on holidays reached almost £370 million, up 4% year-on-year but a drop of 6% on the July amount.
The total number of transactions on holidays at 2.6 million was up by 4% on August 2022 and by 1% on July.
Nationwide defines ‘holidays’ as including hotels, travel agents, package holidays and cruises.
The monthly analysis of more than 241 million debit card, credit card and direct debit transactions revealed that about £8.75 billion was spent overall in August, a rise of 5% year-on-year, with transactions up by 6%.
However, research by Nationwide found that nearly seven in 10 (69%) of the 2,000 people polled were concerned about their personal finances and ability to cover essential costs.
“Having started to trend downwards, the last two months have seen people’s pessimism grow – hitting 62% in August and 57% in July,” the report said.
A third (32%) of those surveyed were left with £100 or less in their account at the end of each month, with nearly one in 10 (9%) saying they have no money left. The poll showed that the average person had a debt of £8,000 on their credit card.
Nationwide payments strategy & performance director Mark Nalder said: “Money worries have peaked this year, which is perhaps not a surprise after many people juggled the expectation to spend during the summer with continued high living costs.
“As we enter the autumn, households will hope for some respite before the return of colder weather and the need to heat homes once again.
“While energy costs have dipped from their peak last year, the return of high utility bills will not be a welcome sight for many.
“Just as we saw last year, we expect many to cut back into their discretionary spending in order to manage their budgets.”