London has topped a TripAdvisor poll of popular destinations for Britons to spend New Year.

London is the most popular destination for British and world travellers wanting a new year break, according to a TripAdvisor survey.

Visitors to the UK capital will also escape the worst of the price hikes that other destinations have put on their new year hotel rates, the poll found.

The average nightly hotel price for New Year’s Eve in London this year is €202.68, which is only five per cent above the average rate for 2014, TripAdvisor said.

In contrast, December 31 average hotel prices in Edinburgh, the second-most popular spot for a new year break with Britons, are €188.52 – which is 20 per cent higher than normal.

Prices in Blackpool, averaging €133.49 for a New Year’s Eve stay, are 32 per cent above normal.

Of the 10 most popular spots for Britons to spend a new year break, New York, at €322.08 on average, has the highest December 31 prices – these being 18 per cent higher than normal.

The biggest price hike has been imposed by hotels in Dubai which, at €207.60, are 60 per cent higher than normal on New Year’s Eve.

After London and Edinburgh, the most popular new year destinations for Britons are New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Dubai and Blackpool.

The rest of the top 10 is made up of Berlin, Sydney (where December 31 prices have been pushed up 50 per cent) and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. For world travellers, the top spots are London, New York and Paris.

TripAdvisor spokesman James Kay said: “Many destinations experience significant price hikes over the new year when it comes to hotels, so it’s worth doing your research before deciding on where to head for the celebrations.”

Ash detector follows volcano chaos

Scientists have developed a prototype ash detection device that has been successfully fitted to a British Airways jumbo jet.

Volcanic ash from an Icelandic eruption in spring 2010 severely disrupted flights across Europe.

The device fitted to the BA Boeing 747 has been developed by scientists at the UK’s Met Office and Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc).

It is capable of detecting small amounts of ash in the atmosphere. In time, this research could aid ash forecasting and also help airlines more accurately plan their flight and engineering operations.

The device, named Zeus after the Greek god of the skies, has already been successfully downloaded from its first BA flight to Johannesburg and will be analysed by the Met Office.

It will continue to fly on long-haul routes around the world for a year, collecting data for analysis.

An early prototype of Zeus has been flying on the Nerc/Met Office dedicated research aircraft and a Flybe Dash-8 Q400 passenger aircraft since 2012, gathering background data from around Europe.

“We were very keen to be involved in this pioneering research which will be of great value to the aviation industry and beyond,” said BA captain Dean Plumb.

“Zeus has the potential to provide a clearer picture of ash distribution and could be used to inform decision making-processes in the event of future volcanic eruptions.”

Ian Lisk, Met Office head of natural hazards, said: “This is a very exciting development and a great result of cross-industry collaboration.

“While further development is still required, we are delighted with progress with this prototype volcanic ash sensor to date and the findings that we have so far received from the tests are very promising.”