In the UK, the visible trade deficit widened unexpectedly from an upwardly revised -£7010 to -£7987, while the consensus was looking for a shortage of £7000. Britain’s trade deficit widened to its biggest since August 2008 in January after the sharpest drop in exports (-6.9% M/M) since July 2006. Imports on the contrary were down just 1.6% M/M, while exports to non-EU countries fell by 12.5% M/M. The unusually icy weather in Britain may have disrupted the transports of goods, but the ONS added that the data in itself did not provide firm evidence of that. The sharp decline in exports indicates that the weak sterling failed to support exports.