WE’RE GOING TO THE DEVIL
Soggy weather sends Brits flocking to Lucifer hotspots
RAIN lashed Brits are making a dash for blazing hot Europe for some summer sun.
Holidaymakers are so sick of our soggy weather that they are risking the continent’s hellish Lucifer heatwave.
Even temperatures in the 40s, forest fires and possible airport delays have failed to dissuade Brits from ditching staycation plans.
On Wednesday parts of Britain had more than a month’s rain in a single day, bringing flash floods and misery.
The rest of August is looking drier but with a forecast of more rain and temperatures little higher than 20C many sunseekers are taking no chances. Lastminute.com said bookings from the UK holidaymakers for destinations such as Barcelona, Rome and Majorca soared 20 per cent in the past two weeks.
While Expedia is reporting a 95 per cent increase on bookings to France on last year and Spain up 60 per cent.
Thomas Cook said package holidays are almost sold out and travel website Skyscanner has seen 22 per cent more searches in the past fortnight compared to the previous two weeks. Top destinations for searches include Spain’s Ibiza, Malaga and Alicante and late low air fares have made sunshine getaways even more appealing.
Last week some return flights from Manchester to Menorca were £49 and return fares from Edinburgh to Girona £57. Skyscanner growth manager Hayley Smith said: “With the weather showing no signs of letting up it’s no surprise we’ve seen an increase in searches.” The top destination for last-minute Thomas Cook breaks is currently Turkey, where temperatures are forecast to reach 34C next week in coastal resorts.
Tony Hopkins, of Thomas Cook UK, said: “Bookings for departures next week are selling twice as quickly as they were this time last year and at this rate, our package holidays for next week are likely to be full.” Derek Moore, chairman of the Association of Independent Tour Operators, said its members had also been reporting big spikes in bookings.
He said one, who usually has 50 bookings a month, saw seven in a day.
He added: “Another member said that they were experiencing their busiest July/August in years – business was up 60 per cent.”