Glastonbury weather: How bad will the rain be this weekend?

Watch: Sun sets on first day of Glastonbury 2022

Glastonbury Festival-goers should take their waterproofs and expect a wet weekend.

Rain is predicted to reach the festival on Friday afternoon before easing off into the evening.

However, despite the respite from rain overnight, there is a risk of heavy downpours on Saturday and some showers on Sunday afternoon.

Glastonbury 2022 weather forecast

The Met Office said that some showers could also impact British Summertime in Hyde Park on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – although the Met Office said these are “light” and “low risk”.

Temperatures are expected to remain warm, sitting in the low 20s through the weekend for the whole of the UK.

Tens of thousands of revellers enjoyed a sunny start to the festival when they arrived at the Worthy Farm site in Somerset on Wednesday.

However, the brief sunny spell has already drawn to a close, with showers and possibly thunderstorms predicted from Thursday onwards.

Senior Met Office meteorologist Rachel Ayers said Friday will bring showers across north and north-east England and south-east Scotland, some of which could be heavy with a chance of local thunderstorms.

There will also be some moderate showers across central and southern parts of England into the afternoon with some sunny spells, especially across Scotland and eastern England.

Ms Ayres said: “A band of rain will push across Northern Ireland, Wales and southwest England through the afternoon, reaching Glastonbury mid to late afternoon, bringing cooler and breezier conditions.

“Showers will ease into Friday night and the band of rain will continue north-eastwards bringing some heavy bursts of rain at times.”

On Saturday, the band of rain will weaken but showers will break out to the west and south west.

Ms Ayres said some “could be locally heavy with a risk of local thunderstorms, especially in the south west, therefore risk of some heavy showers for Glastonbury.”

Glastonbury is celebrating its belated 50th anniversary, after the COVID pandemic forced organisers to cancel the 2020 and 2021 events.

Many ticket-holders are likely to face difficulties getting there, as the festival coincides with the biggest rail strike in a generation.

This year's line-up includes Sir Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Billie Eilish and rapper Kendrick Lamar.

Glastonbury 2022 weather forecast

There have been only nine rain-free festivals since Glastonbury was first held in 1970.

The 2007 festival holds the record for the single wettest day, when 60.1mm of rain fell at the nearby weather station at Rodney Stoke.

The lowest minimum temperature has been a chilly 4.2C, recorded at Yeovilton weather station in 1987.

In contrast, the highest maximum temperature was recorded five years ago in 2017, when the Rodney Stoke weather station reached 31.2C.