Scotland now has a severe weather warning for the next 24 hours with the snow moving south into the north east of England. The south has a temporary reprieve from the snow with occasional sunny spells but temperatures remain dangerously low leaving those wishing to do their last minute shopping with a dilemma. To Shop or not to shop.
The main danger comes from these low temperatures making driving hazardous and leaving the elderly and sick vulnerable to the elements.
The retail sector is also bracing itself for a different kind of freeze with shoppers unable or unwilling to risk the hazardous driving conditions, the cost of the cold patch could cost the British retail sector tens of millions this weekend.
Haulage has been affected by the bad weather delaying both parcel home deliveries and supermarket/retail deliveries leaving some shops with empty shelves which again contributes to the fall in sales in this vital period.
Businesses in Britain have had a rough ride over the past 2 years and the timing of the bad weather could not have been worse with many businesses depending on this weekend for sales to keep them afloat over the quieter months following Christmas.
Many shoppers will put off their festive shopping until next week but the weather forecast for Sunday shows that there will be heavy snow and the cold weather shows no sign of diminishing over next week leaving the threat of ice on the roads when the snow melts. This could be disastrous for the retail sector which had disappointing figures for November.
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Tags: British Retail Sector, Christmas, heavy snow, Low temperatures, News, severe weather warning, Snow Storm
Isn’t it great? I just adore the snow.