Cold snap turns up the heat for online romance

Warm hearts are winning out over cold feet as online dating sites report a huge increase of daytime visitors as people look for romance to fill their time off work.

Singles are turning on their computers instead of daytime TV as two of the dating sites with the most traffic found more people were logging in for love at 3pm rather than the usual busy time of 10pm.

Singles break the ice looking for love

Mysinglefriend.com says web site visits were up 55% on one afternoon, while Singles365.com says visitors were up by more than 25% on the same days last year.

January tends to be busy online as many people make a New Year resolution to find some romance.

TV property developer Sarah Beeny, founder of Mysinglefriend.com, says the snow was “proving to be an icebreaker for singles out there”.

“January has always been our busiest month, but this surge in traffic is unprecedented.”

The big increase in people using dating websites comes at a time when the industry is already booming.

Online dating set to generate £368 million

Forrester Research predicts the number of Britons paying to use online dating agencies is set to grow from 2.6 million people in 2006 to six million by 2012, creating revenues of around £368 million.

This surge is put down to more computer literate adults, the stigma attached to belonging to dating agencies has gone away, and the ease of joining up online makes people more comfortable and confident to take the plunge.

Less traditional dating websites also report more business during the cold snap.

IllicitEncounters.com – a web site for married people to look for an affair – says a record number of new members have joined – mainly from areas worst hit by the weather.

The firm says that in just under a week, 2,567 new members, 37% more than usual, signed up and as a result has needed to take on additional staff to cope with the rush.