UK retail sales slide on ‘Beast from East’ icy weather

LONDON

British retail sales slid 1.2 per cent in March, as “Beast from the East” freezing weather sliced demand for car fuel but boosted online purchasing, official data showed on Thursday.

“The month-on-month growth rate fell by 1.2 per cent due to a large fall of 7.4 per cent from petrol sales; a likely consequence of adverse weather conditions, which impacted travel,” the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. Analysts’ consensus forecast had been for a drop of 0.6 per cent. Britain suffered freezing temperatures in late February, and to a lesser extent last month, as blasts of icy weather from Siberia engulfed Europe.