The current spell of sweltering weather has constituted a breath of fresh air for a wide range of businesses, boosting sales of items such as air conditioners, summer clothes, ice cream, beer and soft drinks.
An increase in temperature of 1 degree might translate, for example, into 1 million additional sales of 633-ml bottles of beer and "happoshu" low-malt beverages.
But what if the weather had been different?