It is cold and grey outside, and we are all deep into post-party-season depression, but Mike and Janice Murphy will have none of all that. While the rest of us are piling on the extra layers and turning up the central heating, the couple from Bar-low, in Derbyshire, will be toasting themselves by the pool in St Lucia, in the Caribbean.

Like the flocks of American and Canadian “snowbirds” who leave the frozen northeast and fly south to Florida each winter, the Murphys will be spending more than the usual two weeks at their former plantation house on the Cap Estate.

“We are planning to go out for at least a month, possibly more,” says Mike, 55, who owns MM Design, a graphic-design company in Sheffield, with his wife, Janice, 52. “It takes at least a fortnight to settle down, unwind and adapt to a different pace of life. I have been grafting for 30 years, wondering what it’s all about. Now I know. After years of working under pressure and beating deadlines, we have acquired enough cash to give us the freedom to be able to spend months away.”

Buying a home abroad specifically to avoid the harshness of the British winter is proving increasingly popular, as the weakness of the dollar, cheap flights and fast internet access allow more people to make their money stretch further away from the tyranny of the office.

BACKGROUND

• Come up trumps

• Gilt-Edged Bond

• High-water mark

• I’m a celebrity, get me into here

BACKGROUND

• The cove dwellers

BACKGROUND

• Barbados for free

• Shore winner

• Bagfuls of bargains

• Just me and Indiana

BACKGROUND

• It's nautical but nice

• Where Gatting breaks for tee

• Eddy's slice of sunshine

• The balmy army base

Too close for comfort

Is the wrecking ball about to smash into swathes of properties built too near the beach?

BACKGROUND

• Pensioners’ pain in Spain

• Stormy outlook for British homeowners in Spain

• Spanish property doctor

• Homes under threat as Spain moves to clear coast

• Tenerife attracts the champagne set; but has bargain property prices

Related Internet Links

• The lowdown on Spanish property

BACKGROUND

• Costa bravo

• Spanish property doctor: Beware of buyers who flash the cash

• The surreal deal

• Amor at first sight

BACKGROUND

• Fortune blows on Spain's windy city

• A sunnier retirement

• Ask the Experts: The estate agent

BACKGROUND

• Is the global property boom set to end?

• Hablamos Ingles

• Shelter from the sun

• Buying on the Spanish islands

• Still plenty to gain from a home in Spain

Mike says that many of his like-minded friends are doing the same thing this winter. “My parents would never have done this,” he says. “But I know a lot of people who realise life is too short, and don’t want to wait until they are retired to have time off.”

For the Murphys, buying the run-down property has also proved a good investment. Their villa was recently valued at £1.78m: 80% more than two years ago, when the refurbishment was completed. Although the house is not on the market, Mike confesses he could be tempted to sell up and start on a new project closer to home in the south of France.

The resorts of the French Riviera were the favourite winter retreats of the European aristocracy long before the days of cheap package holidays and lobster tans. Queen Victoria was among those advised by her doctor to flee the fog, cold and dampness, and spend some time in Nice in order to improve her health. Yet, while the Côte d’Azur remains popular, many of today’s sun-seekers go further afield in search of winter warmth. Marrakesh and Cyprus, for example, are also on the snowbird map, offering reliably sunny weather in winter, as well as relatively affordable property.

The Costa del Sol, in Spain, is still a year-round favourite. “It’s a 12-month season now,” says Barbara Wood, a director of The Property Finders, a firm of buying agents in southern Europe. “When the sunbathers go, the golfers move in. Some resorts are frantically busy in the winter, with people coming to play golf. The arrival of the winter crowds is the biggest change in tourism in Spain in the past 25 years.”

A 12-month season, however, is not the same as summer all year round. Buying a home for the winter, rather than the summer holidays, requires even more research and care. Choose the wrong spot and you could end up shivering in the shade – or living in a ghost town.

Bulgaria might be a property hot spot, but temperatures along the Black Sea coast last week were hovering around 0C. Things are a little better in Croatia, but winter does not mean shirt-sleeve weather. The climate is a lot milder in the south of Spain, Portugal and France, as well as in Cyprus and Morocco, but buyers should bear in mind that temperatures vary dramatically according to altitude and position.

“People are astounded when I tell them about the different microclimates in southern Spain,” Wood says. “Many Brits have misguidedly bought on the Costa de la Luz, expecting warm weather. But it is on the Atlantic coast, and in the winter, daytime temperatures can drop to 6C.”

The same applies to Provence, in the south of France. It may be resplendent in summer, but can get quite nippy once the mistral starts to blow in September. Places that are buzzing in summer might also be completely dead in February or March. Bigger towns and cities that do not rely primarily on tourism might be a better bet than a small village, however scenic it seems in high summer.

Charles Weston Baker, head of international residential property at Savills, says snowbirds have different priorities from regular holiday-home buyers. “When people buy for the summer, they are thinking of going out for a holiday,” he says. “They are looking to party. When people buy a home for winter, they are looking for a better quality of life.”

As winter tightens its grip, it is not hard to imagine an easier life in another home in a sunnier climate. So, what will yours be? A villa in southern Europe? A flat in Cape Town? Or an exotic hide-away? We help you to decide.

CARIBBEAN

January weather
Accessibility
Value for money
Cost of living

Winter is the best time to visit the Caribbean. You avoid the hurricane season, which lasts from June to the end of November, but still enjoy temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s.

British second-homers in the Caribbean have hitherto favoured Barbados and Antigua, because of the direct flights, which take about nine hours and cost £600 or less return. Prices there are higher than elsewhere in the region. A two-bedroom flat near Bridge-town, on the pricier west coast of Barbados, for example, can cost upwards of £400,000. The prices of more sophisticated properties run into the millions.

Less developed islands, such as Grenada, offer better value for money: you could buy a two-bedroom, 150-square-metre hillside flat at the new Grand Harbour development there for £254,000 (0808 234 5095, www.grandharbourgrenada.com). “The equivalent in Antigua would cost at least £380,000, if not a lot more, and Barbados is so developed, you won’t find new schemes like this,” says Harry Lewis, an agent on the Caribbean desk at Savills. “But the downside of less fashionable islands is that they are harder to get to. You might have to change planes in Barbados, adding several hours to your travelling time.”

FLORIDA

January weather
Accessibility
Cost of living
Value for money

The climate is great, and there are frequent direct flights, with prices starting at less than £400 return, but the Sunshine State is probably not the best place to buy a second home right now. House prices, up by an annual 15% in the past six years, are heading south as the American property market continues to wobble.

According to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller indices, prices in Miami fell by 12.4% in the 12 months to October. Analysts say that much property in Florida is still overpriced, and expect that an oversupply of newly built blocks will force prices down still further. Some predict a correction of as much as 50%.

“The market is hurting badly,” says Charles Weston Baker, of Savills. “But it’s a lovely climate over the winter and we think there will be good deals available in about six months’ time.” A one-bedroom flat in Miami Beach can cost anything from £110,000 to more than £200,000. Villas will be double that.

In a sign of the developers’ need to shift stock, 27 three-bedroom coach houses, five miles from the beach in Naples, on the west coast of the state, are being auctioned without a reserve price on Saturday by Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty, in association with The British Homes Group. A week later, Stirling Sotheby’s will auction 30 flats in New Smyrna Beach, on the Atlantic east coast, again with no reserve. Potential buyers can bid online (08000 518893, www.stirlingsir. com/auctions/preview.htm).

SPAIN

January weather
Accessibility
Value for money
Cost of living

Southern Spain is one of Britain’s favourite year-round destinations, although you must be careful where you buy. The coast is generally warmer, and the further inland you go, the more the temperature drops, especially at night. In winter, temperatures range between 14C and 23C on the costas, but drop lower on the Costa de la Luz.

It is also cheap and easy to get to. There are about 30 flights a day into Malaga from a selection of UK airports. The journey takes about three hours.

For Simon and Penny Armitage, who live in Rutland, in the East Midlands, this was a key selling point. “We can leave our home in the UK at 5am and be sitting on our terrace by lunchtime. You can’t do that if you buy further afield,” says Simon, 51, a professional landlord. “Last February, I was sitting outside in the sunshine, with temperatures of about 24C. It was like an English summer day – one of the good ones.”

The couple bought a plot of land at the Monte Mayor Golf & Country Club, a resort in the hills inland from Marbella, in March 2004 and built their own fourbed villa, with infinity pool. The house cost £894,000 and was ready at the end of 2006. The couple spent January and February there last year. It is a hit with their daughters, Lucy, 23, Kate, 22, and Sarah, 20, who have all left home, but enjoy spending time in Spain with their parents.

The Spanish market has taken a hit in the past year, especially on the costas, where there is an oversupply of new flats. This can be an opportunity for bargain hunters: haggle hard and you could knock 25% off the price.

Holiday homes in Spain come in all shapes, sizes and price brackets: £110,000 will buy you a flat in a high-density block in Torremolinos, but for a little more, you could get something much better. According to Barbara Wood, of The Property Finders (020 7518 0335, www.theproperty finders.com), a good two-bed flat on a golf course can be bought for less than £225,000. Experienced hagglers could also negotiate savings on three-bedroom villas priced between £330,000 and £370,000.

The towns between Malaga and Estepona are livelier in winter than other parts of the coast. “Go east of Malaga, towards Nerja, and you’ll see a big drop-off in activity, even though the weather is wonderful,” Wood says.

FRANCE

January weather
Accessibility
Value for money
Cost of living

The Côte d’Azur is known for its dry and sunny weather – though the temperature can go down to about 15C in winter.

Nice, Cannes and Monaco are year-round destinations, with most restaurants, shops and supermarkets open 12 months a year. Smaller towns such as St Tropez, Antibes and St Raphaël are quieter in winter, but remain busy with local residents.

Although prices are famously high, you can find a small city flat in Cannes or Nice for between £150,000 and £250,000. Attika International (00 33 4 93 16 95 81, www.attikainternational.com) is selling studios and one-bed flats in Nice from £98,000, if all you want is a place to sleep.

Anything a bit more special will cost you. A two-bedroom flat with sea views on the Promenade des Anglais, in Nice, carries a £553,000 price tag with Attika, which also has a fabulous villa in glitzy St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, on the market at £5.7m. That said, £369,000 would get you a three-bedroom villa with shared pool, 10-minutes’ drive from Cannes, through the same agent.

Wherever you buy on the coast, it should be easy to reach. There are 12 flights a day from the UK to Nice, and the journey time is about two hours.

PORTUGAL

January weather
Accessibility
Value for money
Cost of living

The warmest part of Portugal in winter is the Algarve, where the mercury can rise to 28C in January. By contrast, the long sandy beaches with ochre cliffs along the Atlantic coast can be cold at this time of year.

Around Faro, in the central Algarve, the most developed part of the coast, Prestige Property Group (01935 817188, www.prestigeproperty.co.uk) has a large four-bedroom villa for £445,000. But prices increase around the nearby upmarket resorts of Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo. A three-bedroom townhouse at Lakeside Village, in Quinta do Lago, costs £445,000, and a two-bedroom townhouse in the Quinta do Lago golf resort is on the market for £448,000.

Prices drop the further east from Faro you go. Western Algarve, which includes Portimao, Lagos and Praia da Luz, is greener and less developed. The same agent has a basic one-bed flat near Lagos for just £75,000.

SOUTH AFRICA

January weather
Accessibility
Value for money
Cost of living

There is nothing like the southern hemisphere if you want guaranteed good weather during the European winter. According to Savills, the number of people following the swallows to South Africa, where it is now summer, has doubled in the past couple of years.

Most head for Cape Town, where the temperature in January is usually in the mid20s, but can pass 30C on hotter days. Getting there is not too painful. Flights to Cape Town take 11 hours, and can cost well in excess of £800, but because you are flying north to south, rather than east to west, there is virtually no jet lag. The favourable exchange rate means that the cost of living is relatively low.

The price of property varies widely. Savills (020 7016 3895, www.savills.co.uk/abroad) is selling a two-bedroom flat at Sea Point for £105,000, while a more upmarket two-bedroom flat with views of Clifton’s Blue Flag beaches costs £355,000. Houses in a leafy Cape Town suburb tend to go for £500,000, but larger, more luxurious houses can cost as much as £4m.

Security can be a worry, and many expats are keen on gated communities with golf courses further inland, where houses cost £300,000-£500,000.

THAILAND

January weather
Accessibility
Value for money
Cost of living

The weather across the Far East is in dramatic contrast to the British winter. Thailand, where temperatures at this time of year are firmly in the 30s, is one of the most popular destinations for tourists and property investors alike, even if flights typically take about 11 hours and cost more than £600.

Wealthy expats living and working in the financial centres of Southeast Asia – Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur – have traditionally been the main investors in second homes in the area. But Europe-based buyers are piling in to take advantage of the economic boom.

On Ko Samui, £100,000 buys a two-bed villa with a shared pool on the boutique resort of Maenam Hills. For £163,000, you could have a three-bed penthouse at Siranya, a slightly larger resort with a spa (07894 469974, www.clairebrownrealty.com).

Foreigners are banned from owning land in Thailand, which means buying property there can be complicated. For that reason, it is crucial to obtain good legal advice.

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers