Last-minute booking surge as millions of Brits flee bad weather over Easter

The grim weather at home is sending millions of Britons abroad in search of guaranteed sunshine over the Easter break, according to travel agents and holiday firms who have reported a surge in last-minute bookings and the strongest demand for seasonal beach holidays in a decade. Despite the prospect of travel chaos on roads and at airports as a result of the freezing weather and icy conditions – in what is predicted to be the coldest Easter since 1910 – airports are bracing themselves for the start of the busiest holiday weekend so far this year. A threatened strike on Thursday by French workers at Calais, Dunkirk, Dieppe and Cherbourg could also delay ferries. The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) predicts that more than 1.7 million British holidaymakers will head overseas for the Easter weekend, comp