We’re sunshine shoppers!

FORGET the beach – when the sun shines in Dublin, Northsiders head for the shops.

New research from property firm Savills has found a one per cent increase in average daily sunshine hours increases footfall on Henry Street and O’Connell Street.

However, the phenomenon isn’t repeated on the Southside with no significant increase on Grafton Street when the sun comes out, suggesting our cousins across the Liffey prefer sunbathing to shopping.

The analysis, which examines how pedestrian traffic in the city has responded to changes in sunshine, rainfall and temperature over the last 10 years, reveals that sunshine has the strongest positive impact.

That one per cent rise in sunshine hours brings about a 0.14 per cent footfall increase on Henry Street and a 0.10 per cent rise on O’Connell Street.

It mightn’t sound much, but just one per cent actually adds up to an extra 18,000 people on Henry Street a month.

Unsurprisingly, according to Director of Research at Savills, Dr John McCartney, rainfall has the opposite effect on pedestrian traffic. A one per cent increase in average monthly precipitation is associated with a 0.03 per cent decline in Henry Street footfall.

Savills estimates that unique pedestrian movements on Henry Street have averaged around 1.3 million per month this year.

Meanwhile, a separate survey by ice cream makers HB shows almost half of us (48 per cent) would pull a sickie on a sunny day and an unfashionable 45 per cent think it’s acceptable to wear flip-flops in work.

The survey also found

‘grand drying weather’ is our favourite good weather cliche while we’re most likely to say

‘it’s bleedin’ Baltic’ during a cold snap.