Winter sun lovers are heading to the Canary Islands, Morrocco and the Cape Verde Islands.

Those opting for long-haul are favouring Dubai, Mexico and Cuba, while winter sports fans will be heading off to the continent with Swizterland, France, Austria and Italy named as the most popular destinations.

Popular for New Year’s Eve breaks are the cities of Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, New York and Dublin. In the domestic market, Edinburgh and London are top.

The UK’s main airports have all reported increases in passenger numbers compared with last year.

Some 900,000 will be departing from Gatwick, 500,000 from Stansted, 255,000 from Luton, in addition around 400,000 will leave from Manchester and 205,000 from Birmingham.

Around 600,000 will be departing from Heathrow alone in the week December 19-25.

Tens of thousands of passengers will also be leaving the UK through Glasgow and Edinburgh airports as well as large numbers through other regional airports throughout the country.
 
Hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers will also be using the English Channel to travel by ferry or through the Channel Tunnel.

Eurostar has reported that December 18 will be its busiest day, citing Paris as the most popular destination.