Tour operators and travel experts have reported a surge in demand for holidays in the sun, as people flee the plunging temperatures, blizzards and icy winds of recent days.

With forecasters predicting the frigid weather will continue into Good Friday and the rest of the Easter weekend, families are heading abroad for warmer climes.

Popular destinations include the Canary Islands, and the islands of Majorca, Ibiza and Minorca. Some Scots are heading to Nice on France's Mediterranean coast, while many others are flying to the guaranteed sun and warmth to be found in Florida or Dubai.

Bill Munro, chairman of Barrhead Travel, said bookings are up 10% on this time last year. He added: "We have had an increase in the number of bookings from families going away in the first two weeks in April – particularly Tenerife, the Spanish Costas, and Majorca.

"Long-haul, people are also going to Florida, which is really popular with the family market. Couples, and older people, are also booking short breaks to cities where the sun might shine, such as Barcelona, Nice and Madrid.

"I think a lot of people have taken one look at the weather and decided it's time to head somewhere warm."

A spokesman for Glasgow Airport said they had noticed an upturn in business, with tens of thousands of holidaymakers expected to pass through their departure lounge during the Easter weekend.

He said: "Between Friday and Monday we will see around 75,000 passengers at the airport, a slight increase on this time last year. The key destinations are the Canary Islands, Turkey and the Balearic Islands. Further afield, Florida and Dubai are also proving popular."

Joanna Wild, managing director of Thomas Cook's retail stores, said this weekend will be the busiest of the year for their holidaymakers in Scotland.

She said: "With more snow forecast this weekend, and the prospect of an arctic Easter, we've seen demand increase for last-minute getaways to warmer climes over the school break. More than 28,000 holidaymakers are travelling with us over the bank holiday.

"If those still hoping to book can be flexible on where they go, and which airport they can travel from, we still have some great deals available for the school holidays.

"Almost half of those heading off with us for some sun this Easter will be arriving in the Canary Islands, where daytime temperatures are set to reach a balmy 22C this weekend.

"Tunisia (21C), Egypt (29C) and Turkey (19C) remain favourite hotspots this Easter, with Mexico (25C) the top long haul choice."

Ms Wild added: "Easter normally signifies the start of summer. The unseasonal cold weather is certainly making many of us look ahead to a summer holiday abroad this year too, and more of our customers than ever before are making this a priority to guarantee some sunshine, especially if they didn't get away last year."

Meanwhile, staycationers can expect bumper conditions on Scotland's ski slopes over the coming days.

Scotland's mountain ski areas have reporting unprecedented conditions for the time of year, with powdery snow making perfect conditions for winter sports.

Heather Negus, chairwoman of Ski-Scotland, said: "Not only have the storms brought huge dumps of snow, but it's amazing quality for the time of year. As far as we're concerned, there's no such thing as the wrong sort of snow – we welcome it all.

"At this time of year, we would expect spring snow, which is usually quite wet, but what all the ski areas are reporting is lovely soft fluffy snow and loads of fresh powder."

Glencoe Mountain Resort opened at the weekend and Glenshee and The Lecht yesterday. Cairngorm Mountain and Nevis Range plan to open today.