'A national holiday for single daters': best day to date online is 3 January

Online dating websites like Plenty of Fish and Match.com see a spike in new users and activity on first Sunday of the new year after the holidays are over

Let the swiping begin! Ladies and gentlemen, charge your phones and ready those index fingers for the first Sunday of the year is almost here and that can mean just one thing: plenty more fish in the online pool of love-seeking candidates.

It's not just all those Christmas engagement photos flooding your Facebook feed, all those questions that your single cousin had to dodge over her relationship status, or the fact that you now have the FarmersOnly.com jingle stuck in your head after being parked in front of the TV most of the holidays - the beginning of the year is the busiest time for online dating sites.