Waitrose is on course for record Christmas sales, and expects to take about £38m at the tills today alone on what is traditionally the biggest grocery shopping day of the year.

That sum would beat last year’s record one-day sales on 23 December of £34.3m.

Overall the John Lewis Partnership-owned company is set for record Christmas sales despite the inclement weather. In the 12 days to Christmas the grocer expects to sell 75,000 stuffing balls and nearly 2 million chipolatas, and enough Baileys for 1.24 million glasses.

Over the week the company’s sales have been up 16.5% on the same week last year, with festive premium fare continuing to sell well and cold weather favourites like soup and pies also proving popular.