Soaring temperatures and Brexit uncertainty led to a dire month for the high street in August, figures show.

Store sales fell 0.1 per cent off an already poor base of minus 2.7 per cent a year earlier, according to the BDO High Street Sales Tracker.

The final week of the month resulted in a calamitous fall in sales as record-setting temperatures kept customers away.

The last week of August saw total in-store like-for-like sales plummet by minus 5.10 per cent from an already negative base of minus 1.10 per cent for the equivalent week last year.

The result marks six months of negative like-for-like in-store sales this calendar year, as shoppers tighten their belts in the face of mounting Brexit uncertainty.

In-store lifestyle sales fell 1.8 per cent, culminating in 19 months of no growth for the category, as retailers head into the crucial Christmas trading period.

The hot weather did not affect online shopping, with non-store sales increasing by 18.6 per cent.

Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said: "2019 continues to deliver bad news for the British high street, with crumbling consumer confidence and growing uncertainty discouraging discretionary spend.

"With another worrying month of no growth and a Government distracted by Brexit negotiations and now a potential general election, retailers are heading into the crucial Christmas period on very unsteady footing."