On Friday, Britain’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) reported that in October, UK retail sales fell unexpectedly, as the volume of goods sold in retail establishments and online dropped 0.3% month-on-month.

Analysts had forecast that retail sales should have increased 0.4% for the month of October. However according to the data, retail sales plunged to their lowest level since early 2021, during the most restrictive parts of the Covid pandemic. Sales fell 2.7% compared to last October, according to the data.

Adding to the decline, was the fact that the report highlighted that the fall in October came on the heels of a revised 1.1% fall in September which ended up being worst than had been estimated at first.

Bad weather and the lingering effects of the cost of living crisis were the fundamental root of the poor numbers, according to economists and retailers.

In a research note quoted by the Guardian, Sandra Horsfield, an economist from Investec bank, said, “Weather effects from the particularly wet second half of the month are said to have played a role in reducing footfall, on the heels of what had been an unusually warm September and early October. This may well not only have deterred purchases of autumn/winter clothing ranges but kept consumers out of shops more generally.”

Horsfield added that the figures were so bleak that there was a risk that the stagnation in the British economy was so advanced that there could be a future downward revision to a negative reading.

She added, “In any case, we remain of the view that a winter recession looks likely, as higher interest rates gradually feed through and take their toll on household and business finances.”