You can blame promiscuity on the weather (but not the men), according to findings from surveys by extra-marital affairs websites undercoverlovers.com and illicitencounters.com.
According to illicitencounters.com, as Britons battled against the wind and rain of the coldest April since 1989, they naturally found warmth and solace in the arms of partners. Just not necessarily their own.
The site, which has over 670,000 members, has seen a huge surge in activity over the past six weeks, with a 300% increase in traffic. And since the beginning of April an extra 5,600 new members have flocked to the site (on top of the average 20,000 expected new profiles).
Rosie Freeman-Jones, spokesperson for Illicit Encounters, said: “Like the weather, our membership levels have also been unexpected, but unlike the temperature, the number of members has been soaring.
“The activity of our regular members is also up. Clearly people are taking this opportunity to enjoy themselves online because they’re stuck indoors due to recent downpours.”
Yet, before you start checking your husband’s activities online, take note.
According to another new study by undercoverlovers.com, Britain’s female adulterers are apparently more promiscuous than their male counterparts, having had on average 2.3 affair partners compared to the mere 1.8 of male members.
Figures given to Huffpo Lifestyle by illicitencounters.com mirrored this trend, with 1.2 women to every man joining up during their recent rainy boom time.
The UK Adultery Survey 2012 by undercoverlovers.com also uncovered dramatically different reasons between men and women for playing away - among the 4,000 members who took part.
While men cited the pursuit of sexual excitement, boredom with their marriages and the need of an ego boost as their main reasons for cheating, women were more likely to be seeking emotional fulfilment, an improvement to their self esteem and romance when they strayed.
Female adulterers are also far more prone to falling in love with their affair partner than their male equivalents, says the results of the site's survey.