The cold weather has led to a 70% increase in sales of dog coats, according to Pets at Home.

The retailer says that sales of products to keep pets warm, which also includes rabbit hutches, helped it to achieve strong sales.

Like-for-like sales – which exclude the impact of new store openings – in the six weeks to 7 January were up 6.7% compared with last year.

In that period it also sold over a thousand tonnes of wild bird food.

The company’s like-for-like sales for the year ending 7 January were up 9.8%.

In a statement, Pets at Home chief executive Matt Davies said 2009 had been a good year for the retailer.

“Our performance has been very strong all year and I am pleased that despite the bad weather we were also able to deliver a good sales performance over the Christmas period,” he said.

Graham Smith for Third Age.