Portuguese clothing retailers say they are in crisis because of a massive fall in sales. Unseasonably mild weather means people have not been buying the Autumn and Winter clothes collections. Temperatures around 20 degrees centigrade mean tee-shirts are still being sported on most Portuguese city streets.

Shop manager Dina Reis said: “We’re half way through November and really feeling the impact of the lack of sales because the most expensive items we sell are the thick wool sweaters, but we are selling other clothes and that compensates a bit for the lower sales.” Some retailers report sales down by between 40% and 45%. And it is the same story further north. In Belgium clothes shops have reported sales are down 10% on the same period last year due to warmer weather.

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