A survey of 2,000 UK adults, conducted by YouGov on behalf of the beach holiday specialist, found Tenerife to be the most popular destination, followed by Fuertaventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Sharm El Sheikh and Dubai.

The index ranked 20 of the world’s most popular winter beach destinations, according to the reasons people travel during the colder months.

The criteria included average temperature, sunshine hours, rainfall, flight duration and average costs.

Around 320 respondents (16%) said short flights would encourage them to go on holiday in the winter, and the promise of quieter resorts (12%) and fewer kids around (12%) would tempt others into a trip.

When it comes to reasons Brits want to holiday abroad this winter, almost one in three (30%) coined wanting to escape the cold weather, followed by rain (22%) and seasonal colds and flu (16%).

Zoe Harris, chief customer officer for On The Beach, said: "Winter in the UK can be miserable, so sunshiney beaches might feel light years away as you reluctantly put the big light on at midday.

"Our new winter sun index ranks the top destinations where you can swap huddling round the radiator for basking in the warm glow of the sun."