As athletes jet into Heathrow for the London 2012 Olympic Games, a new survey has revealed 13 per cent are planning to leave the country in the coming weeks.

VoucherCodes.co.uk has seen a 25 per cent increase in people looking for last-minute travel deals over the last few weeks.

Insight from the leading shopping website shows the number of travel deals available through the site is up 46 per cent on last year. 

With the biggest sporting event in the world descending on London, a quarter of the capital’s residents say they’ll be heading out of the capital, while another quarter report they would like to escape the tourism influx but cannot afford to.

With an appalling run of weather in the UK and Euro exchange rates the most competitive they’re been for years, it’s no surprise to find that the top getaway destinations are all European hotspots, with Spain topping the list and France coming in second place. 

One in ten will be heading to the sun-drenched Canary Islands and one in five (21 per cent) will be following celebs such as Millie Macintosh and Professor Green to the white isle of Ibiza.

Duncan Jennings, co-founder of VoucherCodes.co.uk said: “August is typically one of the most expensive times to go away, however this summer’s sporting events mean travel operators are especially eager to tempt Britons abroad during what will be one of the busiest times of year at home.

“We’re seen huge numbers of deals on the site at the moment, but if holidaymakers want to get the cheapest packages, they could do worse than waiting until September and the end of school holidays, when prices typically plummet.”