Cinemas are out in the cold thanks to December snow

The UK's cinemas missed out on up to three million ticket sales last year due to the snow, listed movie chain Cineworld said today.

Finance director Richard Jones admitted December's flurries had "taken the gloss off the final months of the year".

He said: "People were reluctant to go out at Christmas, one of our better trading periods."

However, a string of box office hits including The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, helped 2010 ticket sales rise 4.7% on 2009.

Cineworld still expects to meet City forecasts, with analysts pencilling in a pre-tax profit of £33.9 million.