More than 20,000 British tourists are currently stranded by Hurricane Wilma in southern Florida with a further 8,500 in other directly affected areas such as Mexico, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

Nonetheless, the head of corporate affairs at the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), Keith Betton, has predicted a good half-term for outbound British holidaymakers, partly due to the combination of severe weather warnings, torrential rain and gales still forcing many half-term holidaymakers to leave Britain for warmer climes abroad.

Betton said: “I would anticipate that it has been a fairly buoyant half-term – although it’s normally busy anyway.

“As a lot of people now book their holiday later in the year, you will get holidaymakers who vote with their feet if the weather is bad in the UK.”

Meanwhile, UKinbound’s chief executive Stephen Dowd claims that the recent oscillation in temperatures and climate throughout Britain are unlikely to have a discernable effect on inbound tourism.

“As far as we can tell, the recent weather has had no affect on inbound tourism at all,” he said.

“People tend to make their plans to visit the UK very much in advance and the weather is a very small concern to them. For example, compared to Florida and what they’ve had to put up with for the last couple of months, there’s a lot to be said for a temperate climate!” Details: www.ukinbound.org