Thousands of people will escape the dismal British weather and seek sun for the May bank holiday weekend, experts said.
Thousands of families are heading abroad to escape the end of what the Met Office say could be one of the coldest springs in the last 30 years.
But some are being affected by a backlog at London's Heathrow airport following the emergency landing yesterday by a British Airways jet which turned back shortly into a flight to Oslo.
Two fatal crashes have also closed major roads in the West Country this morning, including a woman killed after driving the wrong way up a motorway.
Mark Tanzer, the ABTA chief executive said families were heading abroad for high temperatures and sun as the bank holiday weekend coincides with the half term school holiday.
"Families are flying to Spain, in particular the Balearic and Canary islands and those heading to Turkey are in for a scorcher, with temperatures set to hit 40 degrees next week," he said.
"North Africa is also popular at this time of year offering guaranteed warmth and sunshine."
British Airways said it was working its way through a backlog at Heathrow, while a spokeswoman for the airport said there were no other major problems.
Early figures from the Met Office show spring (March, April and May) this year is on course to be the coldest since 1979.
Frequent east and northerly winds brought cold air to the UK from polar and northern European regions, resulting in a very cold March, while April was below average temperature and May is on course to be the same, a spokesman said.