With the UK having endured its hottest week on record, many British travellers are already changing their holiday plans – swapping southern Europe for cooler climes, many shifting travel dates from summer to autumn and spring, or rethinking where they’ll go altogether.
New research from InsureandGo reveals that the prospect of another summer of extreme heat is now directly beginning to shape overseas travel choices. InsureandGo asked a representative sample of 2,000 adults how rising temperatures during the summer had impacted their planning for their main annual holiday – and which holiday hotspots they thought would become too hot to visit in the next five years.
While 34% of British adults said they will stick with holidaying abroad during the peak summer period – and will take steps to be prepared for hot weather – the majority of respondents are considering changes to their holiday plans:
- One in four Brits (25%) say they’re still planning a summer getaway but will actively seek out cooler countries. This course of action is most popular among Londoners (29%) and the 35-44 age-group (35%).
- More than a third of respondents (36%) are looking to shift their main holiday a month or two to spring or autumn – those with children making fuller use of Easter and half-term holidays. Scotland was the region where holidaymakers (45%) were most likely to holiday at a cooler time of year – as were the over 55s (48%), the age group that is less likely to be governed by school holiday timings.
- Nationally, six per cent of respondents say they’re now more likely to take a winter break instead and the people most likely to consider a winter holiday were people that have not been abroad on holiday for a number of years (15%).
The consideration given to changing holiday plans is a direct result of growing public concern over extreme heat and wildfires during the summer months, a regular feature of recent years. This summer, 76% of adults think one of more popular holiday destinations will be too hot to visit within the next five years – an increase on 70% in 2022.
Spain remains the country most commonly seen as becoming too hot for a summer break in the years ahead (40%), followed by Greece (39%), Turkey (36%), Cyprus (30%) and Italy (22%).
This is no longer just an overseas holiday worry. Given the record temperatures of recent summers at home, one in ten people believe even the UK could be too hot to enjoy a staycation holiday within the next five years, suggesting extreme heat could pose a significant risk to the domestic tourism industry.
Responding to the issue of extreme heat, some people are also rethinking where they go on holiday altogether. Countries like Iceland (22%), Canada (21%) and Sweden (18%) are climbing the list of preferred destinations for cooler summer holidays, along with Ireland (17%) and Finland (16%).
Garry Nelson, Head of Corporate Affairs at InsureandGo said, “People aren’t just chasing the sun anymore – they’re thinking about how to cope with it. For some, that means skipping July and August altogether. For others, it means ditching southern Europe in favour of cooler destinations. Even the unthinkable is on the cards, as some staycationers become overseas holidaymakers to escape the summer heat in the UK – a country that is not really geared to cope comfortably with extreme heat.”
“At InsureandGo, we want to help people go abroad without the doubt. We would encourage people to do their destination research before they fly off and also to check what their travel insurance covers in terms of cancellation and medical cover if you are travelling with pre-existing conditions.”
