BUSINESSES are today counting the cost of the storms as people were driven from the high street during what should have been one of the busiest shopping days in the run-up to Christmas.

Many heeded the warnings issued by the authorities not to venture out, and usually bustling town and city centres were left eerily silent and traffic-free.

The few stores that decided to stay open late for Thursday night shopping experienced dips in trade, and some banks also shut early to ensure their staff got home safely.

It was the latest blow to a retail sector already struggling because of the economic downturn, and raises fears that hoped-for Christmas profits will be badly hit.

However, experts predicted the shortfall would be recouped nearer to Christmas – but only if there is no return to the blizzard conditions experienced in December last year.

Last year's severe weather cost the Scottish economy £100 million, while shops saw their profits cut by up to £15m a day.

A spokesman for the Scottish Retail Consortium said yesterday's trading had been "bad" and had impacted on an already vulnerable situation.

He said: "Even though the storm has cost many shops only a single day's trading, it's clearly not a good thing.

"The only good thing is that it has not spawned weeks-long disruption like last year's snow did. Chances are, the lost day's sales will be made up the nearer we get to Christmas."

He added that Scotland's shops were recording lower profits than the rest of the UK because of the country's reliance on the public sector.

The spokesman said: "The Scottish retail sector has suffered more than the rest of the UK from the financial downturn, so therefore the upturn in sales expected at this time of the year is all the more important.

"With a bigger public sector than the rest of the UK, proportionally more people have been losing their jobs or are in fear of doing so, and that has led to people cutting back their spending on the high street."

With many schools shut and businesses ordering staff to go home as the travel chaos spread, the storm will have had other effects on Scotland's economy beyond the retail sector, although it will be some time before the cost can be assessed.

David Lonsdale, assistant director of CBI Scotland, said: "The adverse weather has caused disruption and it is frustrating, particularly as it comes at what is already a challenging time for many firms because of the economic situation.

"However, everyone understands that safety must be the priority, with many able to take advantage of flexible working or indeed modern technology to allow them to work from home."

Speaking about the situation on the high street, he added: "The likelihood is that a large slice of any dip in fortunes attributable to the weather is likely to be recouped as there is still over a fortnight to go until Christmas."

However, while people stayed away from town centres, other retail outlets said it was almost business as normal, although it paid to have a roof over shoppers' heads.

Peter Beagley, general manager of the indoor Braehead shopping centre, said: "The centre was open as normal today and we were busier than we expected with shoppers.

"It was up to individual retailers to decide if they would close early, and of 100-plus stores, only one shop, Lush, closed earlier than normal in the afternoon, as did the small branch of Lloyds TSB bank in the centre."