GETTY Holidays to Spain set to cost more this year after surge in people avoiding north Africa

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As Britons brace for the Arctic blast and temperatures as low as -15C they are beginning to search for sunshine online. But after terror atrocities in previous favourite hotspots including Tunisia and Egypt, Britons are booking breaks in countries with a perceived lower threat of terror in the wake of the terror attacks. Turkey and Morocco are being shunned by families and chartered flights to Tunisia are still off. And areas of Greece could also be set to suffer as Britons have taken to TripAdvisor to shun the Greek islands Kos and Lesbos, because of an influx of Syrian refugees. Travel giant Thomas Cook also said the number of people seeking sun in Spain is rising fast.

GETTY Families are searching for places to stay safe and opting for places like Spain and Portugal

Price increases are more noticeable in the Canary Islands than anywhere else. Prices and value is driven by supply and demand Irish Travel Agents’ Association chief Pat Dawson

They said: “We are seeing a lot of people who would normally go to Turkey or North African countries like Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia look at the more traditional Spanish mainland, the Spanish islands and Portugal." In Ireland, prices have already begun to rise as much as 12 per cent. Irish Travel Agents’ Association chief Pat Dawson said: "With the demand switching further south and west, our members are seeing prices increase. “For example, if a family room cost €100 a night in Spain, it could now be an extra €12 a night. “Price increases are more noticeable in the Canary Islands than anywhere else. Prices and value is driven by supply and demand."

GETTY Terror attacks like the Tunisian beach massacre have shocked the world

In October, 1.6m Brits visited Spain, spending £6.1billion on the country and making up a quarter of all tourists in the country and there is a rise in the number of French and German families headed there too. According to the Office of National Statistics Brits spent £24.4 billion in 2014, an increase of 4.5% compared with 2013. And UK residents are expected to spend even more this year. Thirty-eight holidaymakers were slaughtered as they sunbathed on a beach at the Port El Kantaoui tourist resort near Sousse, Tunisia, on June 26 last year. The massacre followed the March attack at the Bardo National Museum in central Tunis in which 24 people were killed in the incident, including 20 foreign tourists.

GETTY Spain is one of the top destinations for tourists from the UK, Germany and France