"Despite the dreadful weather, both the food and non-food sectors reported impressive growth, " he said.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Scotland | Summer rain fails to dampen sales

The dreadful weather of the past few months has affected production as well.

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"At that stage they were experiencing dreadful weather conditions, " he said.

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"To make matters worse the weather forecast was dreadful, " said an RNLI spokesperson.

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