Well, I'm beginning to feel a bit less sad this morning. My despondency following the events in Moscow on Wednesday night meant I was thoroughly miserable all day yesterday.

I found it difficult to concentrate, I didn't want to talk to anyone, or watch any news reports, I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and was quite simply well and truly down in the dumps. I should not be allowed to watch football.

Anyway, I went out for a walk late afternoon yesterday to clear my head and to attempt to gain some enjoyment from this summer weather.

As I was walking around town though, one can't fail to notice how all the grass where I'm based in Salisbury, is utterly scorched (from the sun I must stress, as opposed to any nefarious toxic substances!).

I've been hearing concern expressed from dealers and industry members about how this current heatwave is adversely affecting their businesses. It's one thing to have good weather to allow people to get out and enjoy maintaining their gardens - it's another when it gets to extremes. One dealer/distributor said to me this week, "l think the industry is suffering a bit with this prolonged dry spell."

I've heard others talk of the lack of grass growth meaning no or very few mowers are being sold. Some are saying servicing is holding up, but others are appearing to find their workshops a lot quieter than they would be ordinarily. Chris Biddle says he remembers being a dealer during the summer of 1976 and no-one coming though their doors for 3 months!

So how will these conditions which we've been experiencing this year impact on the season as whole? Will there be enough in the front and back ends to make a it a decent one for dealers?

It's interesting to hear from Cub Cadet today, who have been running their mowing survey, stating that the 2018 lawnmowing season started over three weeks later than it did in 2017. Is that an occurrence which dealers also felt the effects of? Cub Cadet do point out that March this year was the wettest since 1981, followed up by a mini-heatwave in April, causing a growth spurt in the grass. Does that mean that any slow-down which dealers might be experiencing currently, will be mitigated by early season strength?

Discussing the results of their findings, Phil Noble, sales and technical manager for Cub Cadet UK, said in a statement, “Sales discussions within the industry suggested that the season had started later this year so it’s interesting to see this reiterated by our survey data. There have been many contributing factors and it’s not entirely surprising that people started mowing later when you consider the extreme and varied weather we had earlier in the year with the Beast from the East followed by an unusually warm April combined with lots of rainfall.

“The weather was really varied - if we didn’t know what the weather was doing, it’s not surprising that the grass didn’t! We now wait for the data from the close of the survey later in the year to see if the whole season has shifted.”

And that will be interesting to see - whether sales will last later into the year meaning that this current dry spell won't have done too much damage to the year.

But how are you finding the season currently in your dealership? Have the conditions affected you, or are things pretty much as normal? If sales of mowers are down, what other areas of the business are you concentrating on?

Also, as well as the weather, do you find events like the World Cup which effect the national mood quite dramatically, have an impact on your business?

Let us know in the comments below. It'll be great to hear some good news if anyone has some, to help cheer me up!