Holiday bookings follow the weather

New research published by Ryanair shows that people are more likely to book flights when it is raining.

The low-cost carrier revealed that it had collated its Dublin bookings against rainfall figures from the Met Eireann office.

Results show that bookings mirror rain patterns, suggesting that holidaymakers look for flights abroad when the weather is inclement at home.

"Ryanair records more Dublin bookings on the rainiest days of the month, as glum passengers snap up last minute Ryanair bargains to the sun," explained Ryanair's Peter Sherrard.

"The good news is that even if the miserable weather continues, Ryanair is providing a multitude of escape routes."

Recently, Jet2.com suggested that the heavy rain in the UK was encouraging UK holidaymakers to book winter sun holidays in record numbers.

Mandy Round, general manager at the company, commented: "The summer has been abysmal in the UK and we have already seen a surge in bookings for package holidays to the sun for the remainder of the summer.

"Early bookings figures indicate that there will be a knock-on effect for winter as families who have holidayed in the UK, look for cheap winter deals to the sun to try to make up for the lack of sunshine and dry weather here."