Take a break this half-term

City breaks to places such as Barcelona, Paris, Dublin, and Amsterdam have been described by the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) as "the outstanding success story of the last few years".

According to Abta, many people will be choosing to catch a flight to these destinations during the forthcoming bank holiday weekend and school half-term.

In total, Abta predicts that around 2.1 million British people plan to escape the English weather by travelling abroad this weekend.

Spain, including the Canary Islands, and Portugal are some of the bestselling short-haul destinations.

Egypt and other north African countries are areas further afield that also continue to be popular.

In addition, the number of people who are flying to New York and Florida, in the US, is still high, according to Abta.

Justin Fleming, president of Abta, said: "The last few weeks' terrible weather has given an even greater incentive to people to head abroad this weekend where they are guaranteed good weather and the first taste of proper summer."

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