Glastonbury Festival 2016 weather — mud bath off the cards as sunshine fills the forecast

Glastonbury festival kicks off in just over a month. But should those lucky enough to be going to see Adele, Coldplay and Muse playing on the Pyramid Stage be starting to prepare for a heatwave or the dreaded mud bath?

Despite rain and wind rounding off a warmer May, hopes have been raised for a heatwave for the Somerset music bash. However, the Met Office have said that conditions were more likely to be near-normal for the time of year.  Jeff Knight, head of Climate Variability at the Met Office said; “Currently, there are no strong drivers of our weather patterns in the same way El Nino was this winter and spring. This results in fairly well-balanced chances of different kinds of weather this summer.” So the five-day gathering should be the usual mix of sunshine and showers.  

The worst year for Glastonbury mud was 1997 when it rained for over a week before the festival began – 110% of June's average rainfall.

1989 was the warmest year when temperatures hit a record 26.6 degrees celcius. 2010 was one of the sunniest with 64.3 hours of sunshine. 

Some long range weather predictions for 2016 have suggested that the summer could be hotter than usual due to the effect of El Nino. This follows the warmest winter on record. 

Mcc0048371. The Daily Telegraph
Glastonbury 2013 Sign above the Festival.
Thursday 27th June 2013

When:
June 22nd to 26th
Where:
Worthy Farm, 6 miles east of the town of Glastonbury, Somerset
Cost:
£228 + £5 booking fee
Headliners:
Muse, Adele, Coldplay
Big names:
Foals, Beck, James Blake, Underworld, LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey
Golden oldies:
ELO, Madness, ZZ Top, Earth, Wind and Fire
Mud predictions:
Medium
Tickets:
Too late: most tickets sold out in October