Colder weather in August contributed to a decline in the sales growth seen in July, with retail data from Nielsen indicating that in the four weeks ending August 12th, supermarket sales increased 2.5% compared to a year earlier, which is a significant decline from the 5.1% growth in the preceding month.  Mike Watkins, UK head of retail and business insight at Nielsen stated that, "It's a bit of a reality check after two months of really impressive growth, as shopping patterns were disrupted by the return of cooler weather and people going on their summer holidays.”