Glastonbury Festival: wellies or sun cream?

It’s that time of year again, when more than 100,000 people descend upon Worthy Farm in Somerset, to attend the Glastonbury Festival.

Green fields quickly transform into a sea of colourful tents, as everyone gears up for five days of fun and musical performances.

However, there’s one thing that determines the experience that festival goers have: the weather. So, will it be rain or shine this year?

Glastonbury weather in the past

Glastonbury has been taking place since 1970, with a festival more or less every year since the early 80s. As you might imagine, it has seen some pretty varied weather in its history.

The hottest day on record at the festival was back in 1984, when the temperature soared to 27.5C on 20 June – a year in which the American jazz fusion band called Weather Report was playing.

The wettest year was back in 1997, described as ‘year of the mud.’ Despite only a little rain falling during the festival, eight of the nine days running up to it saw heavy rain, with 78mm – more than three inches!

The sunniest year was in 2010, with 64.3 hours of sunshine during the festival days – allowing those attending to enjoy Gorillaz, Muse and Stevie Wonder’s performances without fear of getting drenched.

Last year’s festival saw a big thunderstorm hit the area, which stopped all of the performances for an hour or so, including on the main Pyramid stage.

I was there myself last year, reporting on the weather, standing in wellies in the mud. You can see that fun video again here.

Glastonbury weather this year

June has been very dry so far across the UK, with only 37 per cent of the average monthly rainfall during the first half of the month in England.

As a result, the ground is quite dry in many places, meaning that it has the capacity to soak up any rain that falls.

The general trend for Glastonbury this year, is that it will start fine, sunny and warm, before an increased risk of showers during Friday and the weekend.

Wednesday – sunny spells, a light breeze, with a high of 22C.

Thursday – sunny spells, a light breeze, with a high of 22C.

Friday – sunny spells in the morning, before showers arrive during the afternoon and evening, with a high of 21C.

Saturday – sunny spells and just an odd shower, but probably mainly dry, with a high of 21C.

Sunday – the detail is uncertain, but a longer spell of rain is possible for a time, with a high of 20C.

So, whilst a mud bath is looking unlikely this year, the possibility of a longer spell of rain on Sunday may be enough to turn the ground a little muddy in the most trekked upon areas.

Don’t forget, you can get the latest forecast for Glastonbury on the Channel 4 Weather website. I’ll also be posting updates throughout the week on Twitter – @liamdutton

PS – Don’t forget the sun cream!