TESCO blamed the big freeze for £50m in lost sales as a host of retailers reported dismal December trading during a day which was billed by analysts as Super Thursday.

Co-operative Group, Dixons, Halfords, Thorntons, Game Group and New Look all issued downbeat trading statements. However, some City analysts criticised retailers for blaming the snow for poor performance, pointing out that John Lewis, House of Fraser, Waitrose, JD Sports and Sainsbury’s all performed well.

Tesco described like-for-like sales growth of 0.6 per cent for the six weeks to 8 January as solid, but the figure was weaker than rivals Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.

Laurie McIlwee, Tesco finance director, said “We can’t clear customers’ drives and roads that get to the main highways.”

He added that Tesco’s performance had also suffered from comparison with strong figures a year earlier Halfords issued a profits warning after a drop in the number of parents giving their children bicycles for Christmas. Cycle sales, which had been growing strongly over the past couple of years, fell by 16 per cent.

Falling demand for the Governments’ Cycle to Work scheme was also a factor. Halfords did reap some benefits from the snowy weather thanks to a surge of customers buying car maintenance products.

Dixons came close to issuing a profits warning, telling the City that pre-tax earnings for the year would be at the bottom end of forecasts.

Chocolate seller Thorntons and Game Group, the struggling video games retailer both claimed to be casualties of the icy conditions and Co-operative Group reported a 0.6 per cent decline in sales in the last quarter of 2010. New Look, the fashion retailer, said December’s weather was to blame for a 9.1 per cent plunge in like-for-like sales in the 15 weeks to January 8.

The picture was slightly better for Argos where sales fell by 4.9 per cent in the last 18 weeks of they year, but with profits margins higher, owner HRG still expects to meet profit forecasts.