Like most Brits, I grew up with a clear idea of what a summer holiday should be. A chance to swap rainy Britain for somewhere reliably warm, welcoming and sunny.

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For much of my career in the travel industry, this ‘summer sun’ model barely changed - even if fashions for individual destinations came and went.

But this summer's record-breaking heatwaves in Britain and southern Europe have prompted many people to crave something different.

There has been a surge in people choosing 'coolcations' instead of Mediterranean hotspots.

Coolcations are the opposite of a conventional summer holiday, in which Brits instead head to the Nordic and Baltic countries in search of cooler climes.

As recently as a couple of years ago, they were almost unheard of. But climate change is changing that fast and 2026’s series of sweltering heatwaves has led many of us to rethink what we want from a summer holiday.

Temperatures in Europe are rising faster than anywhere else in the world, and this week huge wildfires have caused chaos in both Spain and France - traditionally the two countries receiving more UK visitors than any........

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