The heatwave brought good news for some retailers last month, but the overall picture on the high street continued to be gloomy.
Renewing its call for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to cut interest rates, data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) shows like-for-like retail sales fell 0.5% in June, driving the underlying three-month trend down 2.4%.
Shops fared better than the 3.4% dip in May which the BRC put down to June's high temperatures causing increased purchases of clothing and footwear.
Total sales, which includes new stores, grew 3.5% but this was driven by shops resorting to heavy discounting with early-than-usual summer sales to encourage customers to part with their money.
Consumer caution and uncertainties over the housing market, interest rates and tax increases continued to depress sales of housing-related products.
Kevin Hawkins, BRC director general, said: "While the fine weather in late June was welcomed and did help some stores, the underlying three-month trend has deteriorated further. Retailers cannot rely on good weather to bring in customers.
"There is urgent need for an early cut in interest rates to prevent a continued decline, especially as it will take several months for a reduction to have any effect."
The MPC will announce this month's interest rate decision on Thursday.
