Experts are predicting that spending could reach £2.5 million a minute in the shops and online today, and somewhere between £4 billion and £5 billion to be spent over the weekend as a whole. Some shopping centres reported fighting over parking spaces this morning, and crowds were expected to peak at 3pm in the afternoon.
Sunday trading laws, which restrict opening hours to six hours, have affected stores and consumers this year because of Christmas Day falling on a Tuesday. Both Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have extended their opening hours on Christmas Eve as a result.
Some 275,000 shoppers are expected to descend on Bluewater in Kent this weekend.
More than 600,000 visitors have flocked to the shopping centre - which extended its opening hours until 11pm - over the past five days.
Robert Goodman, Bluewater's general manager, said: "With this weekend being the last chance for many people to complete their Christmas shopping, we are expecting Bluewater to be very busy."
The rain in London has been relentless this morning, stopping people from going out but it was expected to ease off by lunchtime. Borough Market, where 120 different retailers operate was reported to be extremely busy at midday, despite the weather. On a normal Saturday it sees a footfall of about 5,000, and stallholders and shopkeepers were confident that would be exceeded today.
In other parts of the country, Jo Tallack, general manager at the Highcross Leicester shopping centre, said: "With one full weekend left before Christmas, we're expecting both Saturday and Sunday to be exceptionally busy at Highcross.
"Last weekend we saw almost 170,000 people through the doors, which was our busiest weekend in three years and our busiest Sunday since we launched in 2008. We're expecting this weekend to be just as busy - if not more so - than last weekend.
"Total year-to-date sales are up by 5% at Highcross, with like-for-like sales up 3% - we're confident this will be another successful Christmas at the centre."
