Millions of Brits flying on holiday this weekend

Approximately 1.8 million people will be heading overseas this weekend as most schools in England break up today (July 17th).

This is according to ABTA - the Travel Association, which predicts that 415,000 passengers will pass through Heathrow Airport between now and July 20th.

A further 240,000 are expected to depart from Gatwick, while Stansted, Manchester and Birmingham will accommodate 140,000, 150,000 and 65,000 holidaymakers respectively.

It is also estimated that 130,000 people will fly from one of the main Scottish airports.

Hundreds of thousands of others will depart from regional airports after booking cheap flights to Europe.

Commenting on the figures, ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said: "This year many of us are choosing to book later than normal and if you haven't made your mind up yet on where to go and are flexible in your choices there are still some great deals available".

The organisation also revealed that Spain is Brits' most popular holiday destination, with the Balearic Islands the number one Spanish destination.

ABTA said last month that approximately 150,000 Scottish holidaymakers had booked flights abroad to coincide with the Scottish school holidays.