BRITS have given Dry January the elbow and turned to booze amid one of the gloomiest starts to a year.
Yet another lockdown and being cooped up with kids has combined with grim winter weather to get parents reaching for the bottle opener.
Weekly wine sales are a third up on last year while beer sales have soared 49 per cent.
Spirits have shot up — with Waitrose reporting a 64 per hike for rum and a 56 per cent jump for tequila.
Other supermarkets say sales of cream liqueurs such as Baileys have doubled.
Despite pubs and bars being shut, nearly a third of Brits who started the month intent on going alcohol free have already fallen off the wagon.
In fact, according to a YouGov poll, 16 per cent had consumed alcohol by January 3.
Joker Matthew Knowles, 48, from London, wrote on social media: “New personal best on Dry January. Finished it in six days.”
The communications specialist told The Sun: “I can make it through most if not all of January usually.
“But stuck indoors I found myself circling back and forth to the fridge and in the end I came back to the sofa with a beer in my hand. It wasn’t the last.”
Internet sales have gone through the roof — partly due to stay-at-home drinkers but also because we are boozing so much more.
Online off-licence The Drop Store has seen sales increase eight-fold in the first 12 days of the year.
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