Government encourages people to sign up to Dry January

The government has called on people across the UK to take part in the 2015 Dry January event, which encourages Britons to give up alcohol for a month following the new year.

A spike in sign-ups to Dry January has been predicted during the festive period due to the number of people wishing to abstain from drinking following the excesses of the Christmas and new year period.

Last Friday, December 19th, was predicted to be the peak of the Christmas party season, with the number of revellers in pubs, bars and restaurants reaching its zenith. In 2013, total sales of alcohol rose by 28 percent from November to December.

More than 17,000 people took part in Dry January in 2014, helping people to not only drink less per day, but also to drink less frequently.

Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at Public Health England, said: "As with any commitment to a healthier lifestyle change, people need some time to prepare themselves in advance so that they are in the best position possible to successfully achieve their goal."

The government will be hoping Dry January can match the success of Stoptober, its month-long smoking cessation challenge, which proved popular in October 2014.