Visit London has released its monthly attraction monitor, showing that the number of visitors to museums, galleries and attractions in the capital rose by 13.7 per cent in January.

Free attractions predominated, with an 18 per cent rise, as did temporary exhibitions such as Monet to Picasso at the National Gallery and David Hockney at the National Portrait Gallery.

However, visits to paid attractions in London dropped by 2.7 per cent.