LONDON, January 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Planalytics Inc., the global leader in Business Weather Intelligence(R),
today released its new WeatherCall(SM) report detailing weather's influence
on the United Kingdom's 2008 Christmas shopping season.

After a promising end to October, retailers were hoping for a prolonged
cold snap to drive sustained demand for cold weather products and kick off
the seasonal selling period. The weather was fairly benign and unhelpful
through much of November, with little to instill a Christmas mindset and kick
start shopping. "Cold conditions are very helpful in kicking off Christmas
buying," said Tim Morris, Managing Director for Planalytics Europe.
"November's inconsistent weather allowed consumers to delay purchasing of
cold weather products such as outerwear, knitwear, cold weather accessories
and heaters and make do with products they already had."

November's unfavourable pattern improved markedly late in the month,
carrying over into the coldest start to December since 1976, with wind, rain,
snow, ice and frost all in the mix. According to Mr. Morris "this created
plenty of tangible and visual reminders for the shopper of the need to keep
warm and that Christmas was arriving." The cold conditions encouraged a spike
in demand for cold weather products and would have influenced gift purchasing
choices towards knitwear, cold weather accessories and warm handle clothing.

Weather conditions during the immediate run up to Christmas itself
offered no obstacles to the last minute shopper as most places stayed dry
aside from some occasional light rain or drizzle. For bricks and mortar
retailers, these were ideal shopping conditions with no prolonged negative
influences on footfall. While the weather in December was a positive sales
driver, many retailers offered discounts or permanent markdowns, resulting in
average sales prices that were lower than last year.

As a whole, December's weather added strong positive support for the UK
retail economy. December 2008 was -1.2 C cooler than 2007 and below normal,
helping to give a much needed increase for winter goods.

For December, Planalytics WeatherCall Report showed positive year-on-year
weather driven demand indices for the following product categories: Winter
Outerwear (+21%), Knitwear (+10%) and Boots (+9%).

The favorable winter conditions perpetuated into Boxing Day and through
to the New Year. "Moving into January, the colder weather will continue to
encourage consumers to get out and about in the post Christmas sales and this
will help retailers clear stocks of Autumn-Winter product," commented Mr.
Morris.

For more information, contact Planalytics Europe at +44-(0)-20-7321-3715.

About Planalytics Inc.

Planalytics Inc. (www.planalytics.com) is the singular global source of
Business Weather Intelligence -- the actionable information companies need to
understand and optimize the impact of weather on their business. Weather is
the most volatile of all external factors affecting business performance and
Planalytics helps companies proactively manage this risk. Powered by an
unparalleled database of weather's financial and volumetric impacts,
proprietary modeling technologies and market-specific expertise, Planalytics'
Business Weather Intelligence is essential to any company, in any industry,
looking to effectively shape strategies, pinpoint opportunities and make more
profitable decisions.