The Met Office have issued an official weather warning for “thunderstorms and torrential downpours” on the Thursday of Glastonbury Festival. There’s also a risk of strong winds and even some hailstones.
With several days of hot and dry weather coming to an end before the weekend, Thursday’s yellow weather warning will be in place from 10am until midnight. It’s currently impossible to predict exactly where the storms will occur, so while Glastonbury is within the warning area, there’s still a chance any storms will completely miss the festival.
The Met Office said: “Thunderstorms are likely to break out in some areas, particularly during the afternoon and early evening. While most places will probably miss them, where thunderstorms do occur there is a chance that in a few places up to 40 mm of rain could fall in an hour or so and 40 to 60 mm could fall in two or three hours.
“These torrential downpours may be accompanied by frequent lightning, whilst gusty winds and hail may also affect a few places. The exact location of the thunderstorms will be hard to pinpoint, so the warning area will be kept under review and updated if necessary.”
A Met Office meteorologist previously said any storms will likely be fast-moving and should a downpour hit the festival, it probably won’t be too long until it passes.
However, where storms do occur, there’s a risk of power cuts from lightning and surface flooding from the sheer volume of rain. While we’re unlikely to see a repeat of Glasto’s underwater tents, a downpour could leave some areas of the site particularly muddy – so it might be time for wellies or walking boots come Friday morning.
Back in 2014, thunderstorms near the festival meant power was turned off across the site for safety reasons. This interrupted Rudimental’s set on the Pyramid Stage and meant some artists, like Beans on Toast below, played their set without any amplification.
On Tuesday, Met Office Deputy Meteorologist Helen Caughey said: “You should plan for both sunhats and raincoats for this year’s festival.”
“There will be plenty of sunshine on Wednesday across the South West, although there could be a bit more cloud later in the day, and temperatures will reach 26C or 27C. The dry, sunny and warm theme will continue through Thursday.
“However, from Friday onwards the weather will become more unsettled. There is a risk of heavy showers and thunderstorms in the Glastonbury area on both Friday and Saturday, although these should be quick moving, some surface water might accumulate at times. Temperatures will start to dip as we go through the end of the week returning to near normal for the time of year, with highs likely around 18-20C.”
However, this statement was published before today’s warning was issued and it’s now expected the unsettled weather could hit slightly earlier.
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