People are taking fewer holidays, according to a survey by travel organisation Abta.
The number of Britons having a holiday fell from 83 per cent in 2013 to 80 per cent this year, the poll of 2,008 adults showed.
There has also been a slight decrease in the average number of holidays taken per person, from 3.1 trips in 2013 to 3.0 in 2014, although holidays abroad remain stable at 1.2 per person.
Those in northeast England, east England and Scotland took the fewest foreign holidays per person in 2014 with Londoners and those in northwest England taking the most.
This year Londoners took, on average, 3.9 breaks in the UK or abroad, up from 3.3 in 2013. Londoners also took the most foreign holidays per person, with 11 per cent making four or more trips abroad in the past 12 months.
This compared with just two per cent of those in east England and three per cent in the East Midlands taking four or more foreign holidays. The Welsh took the greatest number of domestic holidays, at 2.2 per person. The poll showed that 68 per cent of people took at least one UK holiday in 2014, while 53 per cent had at least one trip overseas.
No explanation for wonky flight
Mystery surrounds why a flight made a sudden change of path leaving an unusually shaped plane contrail in the sky captured in a photograph by a member of the British public.
Teacher Florence Lehmann spotted the unusually shaped trail, which turns one way and then a short while back again, as she left her home in Southsea, Hampshire, at about 7.20am on Monday.
She said: “It’s really weird. It looks like the pilot sneezed or fell asleep. Somebody said a UFO had been spotted recently in the area and the pilot had tried to avoid it, which I quite like the sound of.
“There was no wind and the plane actually moved trajectory.”
A spokeswoman for Nats, the air traffic control company, was unable to explain why the plane had apparently changed direction.
“Unfortunately Nats has no knowledge of the purpose of any given flight and we do not identify individual aircraft to members of the public,” she said.
Last week a grey, spherical object was photographed in the sky above Portsmouth, which some believed may have been a UFO and which the Met Office reportedly said was not linked to the weather.
Upmarket version of Club 18-30
Holiday company Thomson has launched a new range of upmarket holidays for 18 to 35-year-olds.
The behaviour of young Britons abroad was thrown into the spotlight this summer after lurid tales emerged from the Spanish resort of Magaluf.
Thomson has announced an expanded Thomson Scene brand for young holidaymakers, which will include destinations and hotels that will appeal to a more sophisticated range of travellers.
“We are aiming at a young person who is, typically about two years into a new job, perhaps working in London and enthusiastic about trendy hotels,” said David Barling, UK and Ireland managing director for parent company Tui UK.
Destinations for these travellers include the Greek resorts of Corfu and Mykonos as well as Croatia, while for long-haul travellers there will be such places as Thailand, Goa in India and Cancun in Mexico.
Thomson is still offering party-scene breaks for that age group in 20 destinations including Ibiza and Corfu.