Met Office 'expect festival-goers to avoid the infamous Glastonbury mud'

The forecast is looking promising as thousands descend on Worthy Farm

Author: Andrew KayPublished 21st Jun 2023
Last updated 21st Jun 2023

The gates to the Glastonbury festival site open today, with GWR running more than 60 trains between London Paddington and Castle Cary to transport people to this year’s festival.

Thousands are expected to make the journey to Castle Cary and the catch the free returning bus service to Worthy Farm from the station.

Demand for train services is set to be so high that GWR is requiring all customers travelling on the route to make a reservation.

Castle Cary station manager Ben Scott said: “Glastonbury Festival is one of the busiest events on the GWR network and we want to get everyone here in a safe and affordable manner. 

“To offer the very best experience for all of our passengers, that means limiting what can and cannot be brought on board and providing people with the best information we can to let them take advantage of less busy trains. 

“Reserving a seat allows us to see which trains are the busiest, so we can let people know on our website where there is more availability. 

“While we have bottled water on site, given the weather forecast I would also recommend people remember their sunscreen and carry water with them.” 

A further 24 trains will operate for the return journey towards London Paddington on Monday 26 June. Extra services are also being laid on between Castle Cary and Westbury and Castle Cary and Taunton, for those travelling from further afield.  

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said he expects festival-goers to avoid the infamous Glastonbury mud.

Despite showers, temperatures are expected to remain warm at 22C on Wednesday and Thursday.

Towards the weekend, the rain is expected to clear, making way for dryer and brighter conditions with highs of 26C expected on Sunday for Sir Elton John's headline performance.

Mr Claydon said: "For people sleeping in tents, temperatures will remain in the mid-teens at night, so relatively warm.

"Be prepared for all weather types, with showers possible early in the week with warm weather taking over for the weekend."

The festival will see Arctic Monkeys, Guns N' Roses and Sir Elton headline the Pyramid Stage after the music kicks off on Friday.

For the latest Glastonbury travel advice click here

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.