LONDON, January 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Planalytics Inc., the global leader in Business Weather Intelligence(R), today released its new WeatherCall(SM) report detailing weather's influence on the United Kingdom's 2008 Christmas shopping season.

After a promising end to October, retailers were hoping for a prolonged cold snap to drive sustained demand for cold weather products and kick off the seasonal selling period. The weather was fairly benign and unhelpful through much of November, with little to instill a Christmas mindset and kick start shopping. Cold conditions are very helpful in kicking off Christmas buying, said Tim Morris, Managing Director for Planalytics Europe. November's inconsistent weather allowed consumers to delay purchasing of cold weather products such as outerwear, knitwear, cold weather accessories and heaters and make do with products they already had.

November's unfavourable pattern improved markedly late in the month, carrying over into the coldest start to December since 1976, with wind, rain, snow, ice and frost all in the mix. According to Mr. Morris this created plenty of tangible and visual reminders for the shopper of the need to keep warm and that Christmas was arriving. The cold conditions encouraged a spike in demand for cold weather products and would have influenced gift purchasing choices towards knitwear, cold weather accessories and warm handle clothing.

Weather conditions during the immediate run up to Christmas itself offered no obstacles to the last minute shopper as most places stayed dry aside from some occasional light rain or drizzle. For bricks and mortar retailers, these were ideal shopping conditions with no prolonged negative influences on footfall. While the weather in December was a positive sales driver, many retailers offered discounts or permanent markdowns, resulting in average sales prices that were lower than last year.

As a whole, December's weather added strong positive support for the UK retail economy. December 2008 was -1.2 C cooler than 2007 and below normal, helping to give a much needed increase for winter goods.

For December, Planalytics WeatherCall Report showed positive year-on-year weather driven demand indices for the following product categories: Winter Outerwear (+21%), Knitwear (+10%) and Boots (+9%).

The favorable winter conditions perpetuated into Boxing Day and through to the New Year. Moving into January, the colder weather will continue to encourage consumers to get out and about in the post Christmas sales and this will help retailers clear stocks of Autumn-Winter product, commented Mr. Morris.

For more information, contact Planalytics Europe at +44-(0)-20-7321-3715.

About Planalytics Inc.

Planalytics Inc. (www.planalytics.com) is the singular global source of Business Weather Intelligence -- the actionable information companies need to understand and optimize the impact of weather on their business. Weather is the most volatile of all external factors affecting business performance and Planalytics helps companies proactively manage this risk. Powered by an unparalleled database of weather's financial and volumetric impacts, proprietary modeling technologies and market-specific expertise, Planalytics' Business Weather Intelligence is essential to any company, in any industry, looking to effectively shape strategies, pinpoint opportunities and make more profitable decisions.

David Frieberg of Planalytics, +1-610-407-2905