High street retailers have blamed August's miserable weather for the biggest month of falling sales since the financial crisis, a new report has shown.

Cycling, fashion and homeware stores all recorded falling sales, dragging the overall figure down 4.3 per cent in August compared to last year.

This marks the fourth consecutive month of sales falls and the worst decline since November 2008, accountancy and business advisory firm BDO said.

Miserable August: BDO said wet weather kept shoppers away from stores and meant a hefty sales fall

Retailers posted big share price falls in early morning trade today as the sector suffered from the BDO survey results.

High street stocks were also unsettled by the latest figures from employee-owned retailer John Lewis, which reported another difficult week for sales in the latest sign that retailers endured a grim month in August.

The firm said sales for the week ending August 29 were down 3.4 per cent compared with last year, after falling 5.9 per cent in the prior week. They were 3 per cent lower in the four weeks to August 29.

John Lewis said latest weekly fashion sales were down 0.9 per cent and home sales fell by 0.4 per cent, while for electricals and home technology they were 9.3 per cent lower.

Sales at its flagship department store in London's Oxford Street were down 13.8 per cent.

But Paula Nickolds, buying and brand director for John Lewis, said prospects were looking better for this month.

‘A tough trading period closed with another difficult week, but with definite signs in the run-up to the Bank Holiday weekend that there is plenty of pent-up demand for us to target in September,’ she said.

John Lewis Partnership, which also includes supermarket Waitrose, reports half-year results next week.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Freddie George said it was a key week for the sector ‘before the children go back to the school and a week when consumers start to shop for their autumn wardrobes’.

He added: ‘These figures are thus in our view very disappointing probably impacted by consumers, particularly those based in the south, choosing to take holidays.’

Fashion retailer Next topped the FTSE 100 fallers list this morning, dropping 3 per cent, with the stock also hit as French broker Exane BNP downgraded its rating to underperform from neutral and cut its price target to 7,400p from 7,700p in a sector review.

Next, which posts first half results next Thursday, saw its shares shed 245p to 7,595p.

Electricals retailer Dixons Carphone also stood out, down 11.5p at 419.4p, also hit by cautious comment from Exane BNP Paribas ahead of a trading update also due next Thursday.

The BDO figures paint a gloomier picture than those unveiled by the Confederation of British Industry last week, which said that retail sales actually picked up in August thanks to strong demand for summer clothing and a bounce back for supermarkets.

The CBI survey found grocery sales rose after two months of stagnation, while clothes stores also enjoyed another robust performance.

But the BDO report suggests that wet weather kept shoppers away from cycling and hiking stores selling outdoor goods, while fashion stores suffered for holding back on discounting.

It comes after Halfords said this week that cycling sales had slumped during the soggy summer.

In a surprise trading update, Halfords revealed sales of cycling products tumbled 11 per cent in the eight weeks to August 28.

Fashion sales were down 5.5 per cent and homeware sales fell 3.3 per cent, led by a decline in big ticket items such as furniture.

The home improvement category was also weak, possibly because many people delayed work on their properties until they returned from holidays.

However, things seem to have improved towards the end of the month, especially for fashion stores.

Outdoor gear: Cycling and hiking stores selling outdoor goods suffered because of the wet weather, BDO said

Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said: 'The last week of August was cold and wet enough to make people think about autumn, so fashion retailers saw an uplift in sales in that final week that this summer's fragmented discounting has so far failed to deliver.

'With the holiday season over and the summer weather starting to fade, retailers will be hoping this is the start of a shopping spree that sees them into the autumn season and beyond.'

The report also said consumers deserted the high street in favour of spending abroad, with the strength of the pound making purchases overseas attractive while tourists to the UK were holding back because sterling's strength makes UK goods dearer.

Other leisure pursuits such as eating out also appeared to benefit at the expense of the retail sector.