A WET August has finally given way to a dry and sunny September. After the 32nd-wettest and 57th-dullest August on record, it was no surprise that half the island was on the beach over the weekend.

Kiosks that would usually be starting to run their stock down were boasting record sales of ice creams and drinks.

And the dry weather is set to continue this week.

‘Sunday was a record day for September and the beach was very busy until late afternoon,’ said Port Soif kiosk manager Jan Le Noury.

‘We sold a lot of drinks and quite a lot of ice creams, but we didn’t run down completely because we don’t actually close until the end of October and we knew the forecast was good.

‘There were a lot of surfers in the water, too [at Portinfer], but that doesn’t make much difference to our sales – they might just pop in for a quick Mars bar.’

She said that most people on the beach were locals now that the schools had gone back.

Yesterday was quieter, as people returned to work, giving them an opportunity to restock.

At neighbouring Grandes Rocques, staff were also restocking the freezers after an exceptionally busy weekend.

‘There were a lot of people on the beach and in the sea, especially during the afternoon, and we totally ran out of ice creams,’ said Chantelle Greenslade, who has worked at the kiosk since June.

‘It was flat-out work all day. I don’t think we’ve had a busy day like that for a while and not in August.’

Jo Corlett, 15, was at Rocquaine on Sunday and had popped to Port Soif at lunchtime yesterday.

‘August was miserable, so we were so pleased the sun came out this weekend.’

Christina Camacho, 15, who was also at Port Soif, had been to Cobo over the weekend.

‘I went for a nice long walk and there were lots of people. It seems that we are suddenly having a nice September and hopefully it will stay.’

West Sussex holidaymakers Jenny and Don Woodall were talking about a return trip after such a good week.

‘We thought it should be nice here in September, but I know it hasn’t been good at home so we weren’t sure, but it has been lovely.

‘We thought it wasn’t that busy at L’Ancresse yesterday [Sunday], but the man at the kiosk disagreed. I think it wasn’t by our standards, but probably was by yours.’

The current dry spell superseded an unsettled August. There was no extreme weather, unlike the flooding that affected the UK, but it was a wetter, windier and duller, but surprisingly warmer, month than average.

The warmer, sunnier days were short-lived, with 216 hours of sun recorded for the month compared to an average of 235, but it did tend to shine at weekends. Wind was high, with 43-knot gusts reported on three separate occasions.

The first two weeks in June the warmest start to a summer on record. But by July it had started to change and 62.5mm of rain fell on Wednesday 7 July, the highest daily amount ever recorded at Guernsey Airport.

* The overnight temperature remained above the daytime average and warm weather is set to continue towards the weekend, although there will be a risk of thunder and strong winds may keep late holidaymakers off the beach.