Analysis
By Gavin Stamp
BBC News business reporter |
 People are having to wrap up warm |
Heavy snowfall and falling temperatures are causing problems across much of the country - but for many retailers the cold weather is proving an opportunity. Several firms have reported improved trading in the past few weeks as sales of coats, gloves, hats and other seasonal items have picked up strongly.
The upturn could not have come at a better time for the industry, which endured a miserable October.
November sales figures, out on Tuesday, are likely to show an improved picture.
Encouraging signs
Experts are looking for signs, however limited, of more robust trading ahead of the critical pre-Christmas period.
Retailers have been making encouraging noises in recent weeks that the onset of winter has driven people into stores in increasing numbers.
Department store group John Lewis has said the cold snap has "triggered a real transition in its fortunes", reporting higher year-on-year sales figures in each of the past five weeks.
Among the more unusual seasonal items being bought, it says, are sleeping bags for babies and winter covers for mobile phones.
Elsewhere, Burberry has said it is cautiously optimistic about future trading after seeing rising sales of scarves and other goods.
 The mild autumn hurt some retailers |
Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which sells luxury cashmere and clothing in 300 high street stores and specialist tourist outlets, has seen strong sales of goods ranging from knitwear to sheepskin slippers in recent weeks.
Unlike many retailers, the firm says it has enjoyed strong trading this year but that the recent cold weather has definitely helped it.
"There is no doubt that that this early snap of very cold but bright weather is giving us an extremely good run-up to Christmas," says the firm's marketing manager David Read.
"We have prepared for it and we were not going to be caught out."
Cold comfort?
While most people are shivering at the prospect of possibly the coldest winter for ten years, some retailers are likely to be more sanguine.
Indeed, some could be forgiven for secretly praying for a spell of cold weather before Christmas to spark sales after the headaches caused by an extremely mild autumn.
This depressed early sales of winter clothing ranges, helping to contribute to an overall fall in UK annual like-for-like sales in October.
This exacerbated what was already a very tough retail climate, with consumer spending remaining weak.
Friend or foe
Despite the welcome accorded the cold weather by some firms, retail experts warn that it could prove a double-edged sword.
 Retailers could suffer if travel became difficult |
"A lot of clothing retailers are doing quite well at the moment because this is the time of year where people think they should buy things before it gets too late," says Robert Gregory, an analyst with Planet Retail.
But many retailers are still facing a sharp rise in energy and fuel costs without any compensating uplift in sales, he said.
And difficulties could be exacerbated if snow and other bad weather makes transporting and delivering goods more difficult.
"If you have heavy snowfall, disruption to public transport and people not being able to drive into city centres then that will impact negatively on retailers' sales," he says.
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We have prepared for it and we were not going to be caught out
