Freezing rain, snow and wind batters Scotland in nightmare before Christmas
yesterday, Braehead’s David Lyon said trading had been positive despite the worsening weather and uncertain future.
He said: “We’re now seeing shoppers upping the pace when it comes to buying their Christmas presents.
“This year, they seemed to have waited until the Black Friday discounts were announced before getting off the starting blocks.
“And there are still lots of great deals to be had in many of our stores as the great value continues right through December.
“This week has seen a big increase in footfal l at intu Braehead.”
Analysts have warned footfall across all UK stores will be four per cent lower than last year.
A spokeswoman for Union Square shopping centre in Aberdeen and Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow said: “Despite the current weather conditions in Glasgow and Aberdeen, centres continue to trade as normal and a re busy with Chr istmas shoppers.”
Consultants at accountancy giant PWC said seven in 10 high streets were to launch sales next week in an effort to counter the drop if shoppers.
David Lonsdale of the Scottish Retail Consortium said: “Bad weather is certainly not good for a lot of shops after a particularly bruising year for retail.
“It has been driven by three key factors – changing shopping habits, lack of consumer spending and increasing costs for retailers.
“The forecast hasn’t been good for our high street but we hope the weather plays a part and helps it recover in the next week.
“There are plenty of good deals out there for shoppers.” The Weather Outlook forecaster Brian Gaze said: “Snow Saturday was bad news for Christmas shoppers.
“It’s the weather nightmare before Christmas, with snow and ice – and now strong winds and rain to follow.”
Last week was dominated by a number of bad news stories for the high street.
Women’s fashion retai ler Bonmarche issued a prof its warning and Primark – widely seen as one of the High Street’s winners in the last difficult decade – warned of tough trading conditions.
And like the continued stormy conditions on the High Street, forecasters are predicting the country wi l l continue to get battered in the aftermath of Storm Deirdre next week.
Forecasters said parts of the country wi l l continue to see freezing rain and ice storms today.
That weather may threaten mobile phone coverage in parts of Scotland and even cause power blackouts.
The Met Office warned that the “rare” weather phenomenon posed a “danger to life.”
It added parts of central and northern Scotland could suffer blizzard conditions today.
It could be the biggest snowfall since the Beast from the East last winter, with two inches’ of snow at low levels in Scotland and higher ground seeing 16 inches.
Local authorities enlisted 500 gritters to help prepare the country with Network Rai l using 34 de-icing trains to help stop the rail network grinding to a halt.
Car rescue firm, RAC, said it was expecting up to 8000 breakdowns.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “We’re saying ‘Don’t get caught out and get stuck in the snow’. But we’re preparing for the worst.”
The icy weather today means parts of the country wi l l be plunged into temperatures colder than Hammerfest in Norway, the world’s most northerly city.
STV weather presenter Sean Batty said: “Freezing rain is more common in USA, where it is called an ‘ ice storm.’
“Mobile coverage and power may be interrupted due to ice accumulation.”
And forecaster Steven Keates of the Met Office said he expected a week of “very unsettled weather” as Christmas approached.
He added: “While it might not be as bad as the havoc Storm Deirdre is causing, it’s going to be pretty wet and wild for most of Scotland.”
Bad weather is certainly not good for shops after a particularly bruising year for the retail trade