Spending with travel agents went up by 1.9% year-on-year last month, while overall spending on travel was essentially flat at -0.1% year-on-year – arresting dips of 3.3% in March, 5.7% in April and 5.8% in May owing to the conflict in the Middle East.

Agents were busy too, handling 8.5% more transactions in June than they did during the same month a year earlier.

Barclays said travel spending "showed signs of recovery in June" with agents "returning to growth after three consecutive months of decline".

In addition, Barclays credits the recent warm weather for a 1.9% increase in UK retail spending in June, an 11-month peak. Face-to-face spending in June was up by 1.7%.

Spending on hotels, resorts and accommodation also climbed by 1.7% in June, but spending with airlines dipped by 5.4%.

Accompanying consumer research by Barclays reveals how demand for staycations has risen over the past few months, with more than a quarter (26%) of respondents saying they will take a UK holiday this year, up from 19% in April.

'Improving consumer sentiment'

Meanwhile, across its consumer confidence measures, two-thirds of consumers (64%) told Barclays they were confident in their household finances, a measure which has remained broadly level since the start of the year. Confidence in job security also increased by three percentage points in June to 46%.

“Record temperatures, stabilising consumer confidence and the start of the World Cup helped drive a broad-based increase in activity, boosting spending across everyday essentials, summer purchases and social occasions," said Rohan Kumar, Head of Spend Insights at Barclays.

Jack Meaning, Chief UK Economist at Barclays, added that while the economy had slowed towards the end of the first half of the year, Barclays expects growth "to pick up modestly, as improving consumer sentiment and reduced uncertainty are partially offset by the temporary inflation bump".