Footfall on UK High Streets dropped by over 10 per cent last week due to extreme weather, according to new research.

MRI Springboard found that recent bad weather throughout the UK had a “severe impact” on footfall across UK retail destinations, with a week-on-week decline of over 10 per cent.

Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at MRI Springboard, said that aside from the post-Christmas week, the decline was the worst for four months.

“All destination types were impacted, but inevitably – with their exposure to the elements – by far the worst affected were High Streets, with a decline in footfall from the week before which was double that in shopping centres and four times as great as in retail parks,” she said.

The retail analytics firm also observed a drop in footfall of over five per cent in shopping centres and around two per cent in retail parks.

All regions of the UK saw a significant footfall drop-off with the north and Yorkshire being the worst affected regions, with footfall dropping by almost nine per cent.

Overall, it still appears that UK retail footfall is on a slow recovery trajectory post-pandemic.

While the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found that footfall rose by 10 per cent in February, the consultancy that carried out the research cautioned that even though footfall fluctuations are less volatile, it doesn’t mean that footfall recovery has “yet turned a corner”.

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