All over the country, flowers are being meticulously arranged into beautiful bouquets, heart-shaped balloons are being inflated and chocolates are being loaded into cutesy boxes. Valentine’s Day is coming.



But before we get too carried away with the declarations of love, we must first survive Red Tuesday – the busiest dumping day of the year.



Falling just four days before Valentine’s Day, Red Tuesday spells the end for thousands of couples around the UK.



A survey of 3,000 people for dating site IllicitEncounters found that one in five had broken up with somebody in the week leading up to February 14, with the majority saying they’d parted ways four days before the big night.



“There are many different reasons people make such a drastic decision so close to Valentine’s Day,” said psychologist Lucy Redford.



“Some people realise how much they don’t love someone with the romanticism in the air; some buckle under the pressure of committing; others think they can probably do better if they’re not happy and because Valentine’s Day is a national celebration, it’s hard to ignore.



“For a lot of couples, February 14 brings them closer together and makes them realise how in love they are. For others, it’s a reminder of the cracks in their relationship.



“A lot of people cannot bear to be false and celebrate something that doesn’t exist, so they break up beforehand.



“It might seem quite cruel but it’s very emotionally damaging for a person to be in a relationship that’s not giving them anything positive.”



The research also found that we’re getting less personal with our methods, too, with three out of four of us using our phones to do the deed.



Breaking up with somebody by text has always been a cardinal dating sin, but it now tops the list of most popular ways to dump our not-so-loved ones.



A phone call comes in second, ahead of a face-to-face break-up.



Then technology takes hold, with Facebook in fourth place – we hope that’s by private message and not just an unsubtle change of relationship status. Then comes instant messaging app WhatsApp, and, most brutally of all, Twitter.



Have you ever dumped somebody just before Valentine's Day? Or perhaps you were the dumpee? Share your story in the Comments.