Monsoons and mud predicted for UK festivals

Expect rain at Glastonbury. Lots of it.
Expect rain at Glastonbury. Lots of it.

Met Office predictions of a 'barbecue summer' seem unlikely to bear fruit for festival goers this June. Downpours are forecast and the first victim looks set to be the Download Festival this weekend.

"It's bloody muddy up here," began a Download announcement via Twitter. "More rain this week. Please bring wellies and waterproofs with you. You WILL need them."

But Download audiences should feel positively ecstatic about the weather when they take a look at what could be in store for this year's Glastonbury - a monsoon.

According to Dr Craig Wallace of the University of Southampton, two monsoons sweep across Europe each June. Dr Wallace has studied computer models of the weather for the last 30 years and he told The Times that these monsoons are the reason for heavy downpours in June.

The Glastowatch site certainly seems to confirm monsoon-like conditions, predicting that the weekend of 26 to 28 June will be "a tad hot, rainy and windy".