‘We’ve not had a summer’: retailers battle unpredictable British weather

When the season switched from summer to autumn, like clockwork clothing stores would swap out the racks of floaty frocks and fill them with heavy coats and jumpers.

Now, as the nights draw in, retailers are having to rejig seasonal ranges as the UK’s unpredictable weather calls for summer jackets and lighter knits.

Launching its autumn/winter collection this week, Richard Price, Marks & Spencer’s managing director of clothing and home, joked: “Hopefully we’ll get an autumn because we have not had a summer.” During one particularly wet week this summer, “raincoat” had been the top search term on the M&S website, he said.

With cruel irony, when the UK’s biggest clothing retailer launched its autumn campaign featuring the actor Sienna Miller in September 2023, the temperature was “unhelpfully” above 30C (86F), Price recalled, adding “so it’s warm but not quite as warm as that”.

As a result, the company’s clothing buyers are focused on how to keep its offering in tune with the weather. “We’re definitely launching a more transitional [collection],” Price said.

The composition of ranges was changing, he said, with lighter knits in autumnal colours now and heavier woollens in spring-like tones in January and February.

“March and April hasn’t changed that much because from Easter onwards people are going on holiday but, in September, it could be 10C or 30C,” he said of the dilemma. The retailer was also having to buy outerwear ranges for the summer, “which we would never have done two or three years ago”, he said.

The wet summer has been a washout for fashion retailers – this week Asos and Primark reported falling sales. Online browsing trends indicate some Britons have given up hope of warm, sunny days weather with “Halloween” a popular search term, according to analysts.

Price said “summer has been tough in the market”, noting cool and wet conditions until late July. “We’ve been slightly disappointed with our performance but have still grown share and outperformed the market.”

The heavy rain had put people off buying summer clothes, he said, adding that some people had brought back summer dresses they were unlikely to get the opportunity to wear this year.

The changing climate is not just a problem for fashion retailers. Richard Walker, who runs the grocer Iceland said it had delayed its annual shift to selling popular winter foods such as pies and pastries by a fortnight to the middle of this month “because the UK is getting wetter, cooler summers and warmer Septembers”.

Walker suggested retailers were having to adapt to increasingly erratic weather caused by the climate crisis. “Last summer was a washout and it makes it hard with seasonal plans,” he said. This year “terrible weather” in early summer and erratic conditions in July had made it difficult to predict demand, he added.

In 2023, the hottest June on record was followed by a relatively cool and wet July and August, with September marked by a lengthy heatwave. The hottest day of last year was 10 September – at 33.5C it marked the fifth time the peak fell in September since observational records began, according to the Met Office .

This summer was the coolest since 2015, with the average daily temperature 14.4C, according to the forecaster’s provisional statistics.

Fashion experts said shoppers looking for autumn wardrobe updates were buying versatile styles, such as trenchcoats, faux leather skirts and tops, and waistcoats – which are a popular trend – that can be worn whatever the weather.

Hannah Staines, a womenswear category lead for John Lewis, said: “With our unpredictable weather, it was perhaps inevitable that the lines between summer and autumn fashions would blur, but we’re really seeing this pick up pace,.

“Customers are seeking clothes that lend themselves to layering Trenchcoats are light enough to complement a summer outfit but can also keep us warm through autumn. Waistcoats are another great example, as they can be styled alone for summer or paired with other pieces in cooler weather.”