Big freeze hits Mothercare

The chain, which has 377 UK stores, said toy sales were particularly affected as December's Arctic blast wiped an estimated four per cent off its UK sales figure for the final quarter of 2010.

UK like-for-like sales excluding VAT were down 5.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to January 1, which led the retailer to warn that profits for the year to April were likely to be less than the City's expectations of 41m.

Mothercare said UK sales in the final quarter of 2010 had got off to a strong start but were "impacted significantly" by the snow in December.

Finance director Neil Harrington said UK like-for-like sales were down by 21 per cent in one week in December which was particularly badly hit by snow.

Mr Harrington said: "The snow was a pain in the neck. Our customers have young babies and pushchairs or are pregnant, and don't come out in the snow.

"The snow came right at the peak time for ordering toys for Christmas."

Not only did the Arctic weather keep shoppers at home during the key festive trading period, but it also forced the retailer to bring forward the cut-off point for Christmas deliveries to ensure customers received their presents on time.