Glastonbury weather forecast: heavy showers and thunder to dampen festival ahead of 30C weekend

Showers are forecast to remain across parts of the UK turning “thundery and heavy at times” as Glastonbury festival gets underway.

The Met Office said there are no thunderstorm warnings as of yet forecast for Glastonbury but some could potentially get issued “at short notice”.

The forecaster has issued thunderstorm warnings for Wednesday (21 June) across the West Midlands, Wales, North East England, Grampian, Strathclyde, Highlands & Eilean Siar, Dumfries, Galloway, Lothian & Borders, Central, Tayside & Fife. The yellow warnings are in place from 12pm until around 7pm.

Wednesday (21 June) and Thursday (22 June) will see scattered rain across the country particularly in the south-west, with some areas experiencing thunder and lightning.

Despite the threat of showers and more thunderstorms, temperatures are still forecast to remain high reaching up to 30C in the South East on Friday (23 June).

Greg Dewhurst, Met Office spokesman, said Wednesday will be “another day of sunny spells and some scattered showers” turning “heavy and thundery at times, particularly across the north and west of the UK”.

Thursday is expected to be a “repeat performance” with “some sunshine and showers, perhaps with more of a focus on parts of England and Wales.”

He added: “Temperatures are still on the warm side, perhaps a degree higher, so 29C in the South East. It is a similar picture in the South West to the South East, with a risk of some showers over the next couple of days.

“The showers should become less frequent for England and Wales on Friday but it does turn wetter and breezier for parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.”

According to ITV News West Country’s weather presenter and meteorologist Charlie Powell, Glastonbury festival is expected to get off to a "shaky start" as showers are forecast for the first two days, but it will make way for a dry and humid weekend.

He said high pressure will begin to build from Thursday "so we’ll have fewer showers and probably lighter ones too, I’d expect”.

He added that daytime temperatures will reach the mid-20Cs and despite the “couple of showers to start with” the overall weather forecast “looks pretty decent."

Temperatures of up to 25C are forecast over the weekend for Glastonbury after showers from Wednesday and Thursday pass over.

The gates for the popular festival have now officially opened with people at the front of the queue setting off from their homes as early as 1.30am to secure their spot.

Thousands of campers will descend on Glastonbury today, with stages across the 900-acre site hosting world-class music stars, alongside speeches by politicians, film screenings, theatre and circus performances from Wednesday until Sunday.

Arctic Monkeys will top the bill on Friday on the Pyramid Stage, marking their third time headlining the festival, although their slot has been thrown into question after the band had to cancel their Dublin show on Wednesday at the last minute due to frontman Alex Turner suffering from acute laryngitis.

US rockers Guns N’ Roses will headline on Saturday, while Sir Elton John takes the headline slot on Sunday night, marking his first ever Glastonbury performance. Sir Elton is expected to draw large crowds as it marks the end of his farewell tour dates in the UK.