It rains. It rains. It rains. It rains throughout Friday night and into the small hours. As dawn breaks and the cocks start crowing, the campsite resounds to the relentless staccato of raindrops on canvas, sleep-depriving explosions that bestow wet insults on the shivering occupants below.

     Here at the Palace Farm campsite in the crook of north-east Kent, a short hop from a forbidding grey North Sea and its chilling breezes, all is sodden, all is dank. This cold morning, even Bear Grylls would struggle to spark a fire. This is how the world will end; not in flames but a creeping dampness that rots everything in its path.

     It is a gorgeous campsite, though, a tranquil picture-postcard place framed by trees nestling in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the edge of the Kent Downs. There is plenty of space for kids to roam; a welcoming pub and an award-winning butcher are nearby. Enid Blyton would approve.

    The campsite was once strawberry fields, but its affable owner, Graham Cuthbert, turned to camping when the supermarkets demanded that he grow his crop in polytunnels. Since he made the switch in 2007, the campsite has been going strong, earning enthusiastic reviews and a loyal following. Some of Cuthbert's campers come back as many as eight times a season.

    But the incessant rain this summer has tested the loyalty of even the hardiest campers. The Palace Farm campsite can take around 25 tents, including two permanent teepees. But yesterday morning only 11 sites were in use. Seven separate parties who had reserved pitches failed to show. The business continues to grow but not as quickly as last year. "We've around half the growth in income this summer compared with last summer," Cuthbert said.

    Palace Farm is thought to be on a site once gifted to William the Conqueror's half-brother, Bishop Odo. A sense of history helps Cuthbert to keep things in perspective. "It flooded here in '68," he said. "To be honest, we had pretty much written this summer off because of the Olympics."

    Things could change very quickly though if the weather were to improve. "If on a Tuesday or Wednesday the weather forecast for the weekend is good, then the phone doesn't stop ringing for an hour," Cuthbert said.

     The atrocious weather conditions come as camping enjoys a fillip it last experienced when William and his invading Norman army pitched up more than 900 years ago. The implosion of the economy, triggering the rise of the heavily marketed "staycation", has spawned a new generation of campers. In 2009, the number of camping and caravanning trips taken by UK residents grew by 20%, according to the Great Britain Tourism Survey. At the same time, holiday trips abroad by UK residents fell by 15%, from 46m in 2008 to 38m in 2009 – the largest annual decline in overseas holidays for more than 25 years.

     Tourism experts pondered whether the nation's new predilection for camping was merely a blip. But the metamorphosis in holiday tastes appears to have been sustained. One in three people has now taken a camping or caravanning holiday in the last three years, up from one in five in 2009, according to market researchers Mintel. 

    "A lot of people who in their 20s were thrilled to go round Ryanair's route map are now in their 30s and are pleasantly surprised by what's on offer camping in Britain," said Dan Yates, founder of pitchup.com, a website that helps campers book online. He estimates that normally at this time of year some 700,000 people might be camping in the UK. But the weather means barely half this number – fewer than 400,000 – are under canvas this weekend.

    Yates, who grew up on a holiday park in Woolacombe, Devon, speaks with the evangelical fervour of the New Camper. Each year more people in the UK go camping and caravanning than to Spain and France, he likes to point out. "During a recession, you might expect to see a small shift from foreign to domestic tourism, but what's happening here seems more significant," Yates said. "Glamping, sleeping in yurts and teepees have brought in an affluent crowd, especially people in the south-east who, historically, have been the least likely to go."

    The gentrification of camping was confirmed when the designer Cath Kidston launched her own range of tents. Even the super-rich are no longer averse to a night outdoors. Famously, it costs £9,600 for a couple to enjoy a four-night stay at Camp Kerala in Shepton Mallet, during the Glastonbury festival.

    Terrible weather should not deter people from camping, Yates insisted, pointing out 17% of Britain's campsites are now open all year, which suggests that some people enjoy being under canvas even in darkest, deepest winter. "Practise putting the tent up in the back garden so you know how to do it if it's raining or if you are doing it in the dark," Yates said. "And spray it with a garden hose so you can see if there are any holes that need repairing. Pack plenty of plastic bags and towels. Go for a tent with a porch area so you have somewhere to hang your damp clothes and wet shoes."

    On Friday evening at Palace Farm, Andrea Deeley, who belongs to Chiltern Weekend Walkers, a rambling group, was expertly erecting a small tent as patches of blue sky were consumed by grey. She was undaunted by the conditions: "We do quite a lot of wild camping. I really love it – the remoteness of it all, the scenery." Her advice to anyone thinking of camping is to choose the right equipment: "Get a tent with geodesic poles that cross, so it won't blow over so easily."

    A few yards down from Deeley, Eren Ali was enjoying his first night of camping. "This is a test to see whether my five-year-old son would enjoy it," Ali said. "I was quite nervous about the weather. If it had been raining when we arrived I might have checked into a B&B, but it's going well." He pointed with satisfaction to a fire burning in a purpose-built pit next to his tent.Georgina Leat, his partner, agreed.

    A Dutch couple in their 30s, Marije Koster and her husband, Dennis, were opening a bottle of wine while their two children slept. They had been on the campsite since Monday and were considered by other awe-struck campers to be battle-scarred veterans of England's washout summer. "We did think when it was pouring down and there was thunder and lightning, 'What are we doing here?'," she said. "But then the sun came out the next day and it was OK." The couple are keen to instill in their children a love of nature. "We go out with magnifying glasses and find insects and look them up in books back in the tent, so we don't need to worry about the weather," Koster said. "The children love it."
Next to them three families were braving a barbecue. Children raced around complaining of the cold but laughing all the same. "We go camping four to five times a year," said Paul Grace. "Just for a few days so it's more manageable. We're going glamping in France later this year, but it's an adventure whatever happens." Grace's top tip is to make sure the campsite allows fires. It seemed good advice as an autumnal chill gripped the campsite once darkness had fallen.

    Ultimately, it appears the right mental strategy holds the secret to happy camping. "My philosophy is that if it looks like everything will be OK the evening when you will be putting the tent up, then go for it," Grace said. "It doesn't matter what happens in the day; there's always things you can do indoors. It's too easy to say, "Let's not go." If you live in Britain you need to be a bit more up for it. A campsite owner in Devon once said to me: 'You make your own weather.' It's so true. You just need to be optimistic."

   TIPS FOR STAYING DRY
    Pitch your tent on an elevated part of the campsite to reduce the risk of flooding.

    Put a groundsheet under the tent, and make sure the tent completely covers it so water can't funnel in.

    Keep bags and belongings away from the sides of the tent, where water's most likely to seep through.

   Each night ensure no part of the tent is sagging – rainwater pools in depressions, leaking in or even collapsing the tent.

    Keep dry clothes and sleeping bags in tightly sealed waterproof bags so you don't have to wear wet clothes.

   Bring some food that doesn't need cooking – rain can dampen even the most stubborn outdoor cook's resolve.