Worldwide shipping firms and courier services that specialise in distributing clothes for online retailers may have the weather to thank for last month's surge in clothing sales.

The upturn in clothes sales - a 22 per cent rise was reported in the UK during June - was down to the hot weather, according to one market research analyst.

Sarah Peters from Verdict Research reckons that the sunny weather the UK experienced in June meant that people were more likely to stay at home buy their clothes.

Updating their summer wardrobes coupled with a desire not to spend sunny days traipsing round shops meant more people turned to the internet for their fashion needs.

"We saw some really good weather in June as well, so while people obviously need to go out and buy summer clothing, they probably want to spend less time out there actually shopping," she said.

She was commenting on the latest IMRG/Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index that showed that online retailers across the board enjoyed a bumper June, with sales an average 20 per cent higher than the same month in 2009.