There is a strong relationship between the weather and footfall on Dublin’s main shopping streets according to new research by property company Savills.   The analysis, which examines how pedestrian traffic has responded to changes in sunshine, rainfall and temperature over the last 10 years, reveals that sunshine has the strongest positive impact.   

When seasonal effects are controlled for, a one percent increase in average hours of sunshine brings about a 0.14% increase in footfall on Henry Street and a 0.10% increase on O’Connell Street.   

However, this phenomenon appears to be more pronounced on the Northside, and the relationship between sunshine and footfall on Grafton Street is not statistically significant.

Unsurprisingly, according to Dr. John McCartney, Director of Research at Savills, rainfall has the opposite effect on traffic.  In this case a one percent increase in average monthly precipitation is associated with a 0.03% decline in Henry Street footfall.

Savills estimates that unique pedestrian movements on Henry Street have averaged around 1.3m per month this year.  At that rate a 1% increase in average sunshine hours would bring an additional 18,000 people onto the street.