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It's cold. You may have noticed. We have just emerged from the coldest March since 1962 into an April showing few signs of improvement. The long winter has blighted our wildlife and livestock, harmed our health and sparked fears of a triple-dip recession. But a few people – woolly-hat sellers, for example – have had a frozen field day. Here are the long winter's top winners and losers.

Our terrible spring: the winners and the losers

Winter's hold on Germany lasted longer than usual this year, taking its toll not just on the moods of residents, but also on a number of economic sectors. Construction, agriculture, service and retail are all suffering, and experts warn the effects could be long-term.

Just last Friday, Dirk Nüsse stood at the summit station of his ski lift, looking out at the landscape incredulously. According to the calendar, it should have been spring there a long time ago, but before his eyes a snowboarder was cruising by wintry spruce trees, while frost-covered cable cars conveyed a seemingly endless number of winter sports enthusiasts up the mountain.

There is a thick blanket of snow on the Wurmberg, a peak in central Germany's Harz Mountains, one of the few places profiting from the cold weather that has held Germany in its grip for months. "The entire country is suffering from the cold temperatures, but we're clearly the winners of this long winter," says Nüsse. The 56-year-old manager of the Wurmberg cableway is glad that spring simply refuses to come this year. Ski season is normally over by mid-March, but he has just extended his winter operation by yet another week, which means that some 15,000 additional holidaymakers intend to hit the mountain's seven slopes. During a long winter like this, Nüsse's lift earns twice as much as usual.

Caught in the Cold: Long Winter's Grip Chokes German Economy