No one to pull your cracker with this Christmas? Don't worry. For festive singletons, love may be just around the corner... waiting for you online on Boxing day.
Yes, rather than spending the day curled up with a box set, eating turkey leftovers and drinking the rest of the wine - or maybe at the same time - many singles log on to online dating sites to find themselves a lover for 2014.
Most well-known sites see the biggest surge of online activity on 26 December, with Lovestruck.com noting a whopping 56% increase.
Nearly half (45%) of Lovestruck singles say ditching their daily work routine for the Christmas holidays is the best possible time to focus on finding love.
More than one quarter (27%) confess to flirting online after midnight for most of the holidays.
But can this be classed as holiday fling syndrome? Dating coach Hayley Quinn explains why a festive fling is more likely to last.
“Over the Christmas holidays we're more likely to make smart romantic choices than a summer fling. Rather than prioritising adventure, experiences and everything else that seems like a great idea after a couple of mojitos in the sun; Christmas is a time of year where we consider what's really important to us."
She adds: "Having a year to reflect upon, a new year to plan towards & being surrounded by our nearest and dearest will make us more 'value orientated'. This means we'll be looking for someone's who's deeply compatible with us and much more likely to last long after the Christmas lights come down. This requires work and effort and Christmas enables the time required.”
Story continues below...
Research from the scientists at the Florida State University have proven that romance decisions made in winter, are done so with more serious intent than during the summer months. This is down to the winter weather affecting our brains where a chemical 'love' cocktail of neurotransmitters, involving oxytocin, vasopressin and dopamine, compel us to form lasting relationships.
With little or no work commitments, singles are often happier and therefore more receptive to love and new opportunities too.
Hayley adds: “The end of the year always makes you face awkward thoughts about what you have or haven't’ achieved this year, and what’s changed since the last. If you realize that’s a big fact zero on the dating front, then Boxing Day is the day to kick start your new year’s resolutions early."
Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below