News and Weather

BBC West weatherman Ian Fergusson takes an advance look at the prospects for Glastonbury 2009:

"Our latest forecasts from the Met Office firm-up the general weather theme we've anticipated since we first gave you updates here late last week: expect a dry, fine start, but an increasing risk of heavy showers and thunderstorms by Friday and the weekend.

But it will remain a very warm spell of weather for the Festival and - especially if it remains dry at Worthy Farm - you'll enjoy vastly better weather then in some recent years!

Festival-goers arriving today (Wednesday) will be greeted by wonderful conditions at Pilton. A good deal of blue sky; a bit of fair-weather cloud into the afternoon; and remaining dry.

It will be a very warm day - temperatures likely to touch 24 or 25 C - but this will be offset by a fresher and generally pleasant feel, with a moderate breeze which will tend to pick-up somewhat later into the day and evening.

Nowhere near as windy as 2008, but expect gusts later this evening around 25mph or so; perhaps a tad tricky for those not accustomed at erecting tents!

Bear in mind that both the UV (sun) and grass pollen levels are both very high; don't forget the sunblock and the hay-fever tablets!

Tonight - under clear skies - the weather remains dry, comparatively mild and rather breezy. Pleasant for sleeping and not muggy, as the thermometer falls to around 12 C.

Tomorrow (Thurs) brings the promise of more fine weather; again a warm day, touching around 23 C or so, but you'll see more in the way of cloud tending to build as the afternoon wears-on.

These bring the risk - albeit a small one - of some sharp showers, but the odds favour Worthy Farm remaining dry. And in any event, either side of any shower risk, you will enjoy a day of lighter winds compared to Wednesday, strong sunshine between the clouds but beginning to feel more humid and 'close' once again.

By Friday, we anticipate the weather to show signs of a change. Yes, it will remain very warm and muggy; sunny spells with light winds..... but the risk of showers starts to descend on the West Country, potentially including Worthy Farm, especially into the late morning and afternoon.

When you have sunshine through Friday, it will again be very warm indeed and - fingers-crossed - it remains that way through the day.

However, the risk of some very heavy, even torrential, local downpours is being consistently signalled in our Met Office forecasts and where these occur (and I stress 'where' - Pilton could well stay dry!), we expect them to turn readily thundery in nature.

If you are unfortunate to be catching the storms in Pilton, they could well continue - on and off - well into the evening. So, pack the wet weather gear as a precaution!

It's worth a serious note here about lightning safety. Being huddled standing together, soaking wet on an exposed area of farmland under a thunderstorm is a potential recipe for a nasty accident.

Remember - if you can hear thunder, you are already at risk of being within range of lightning. Keep well clear of any tall structures around the site if thunder has started - don't shelter near the arena's metal stanchions, lighting / PA towers, etc.

Lightning will preferentially strike these and can flash off onto people or objects nearby. I appreciate it is hard to avoid the crowds or move easily to safety; in such conditions, if lightning is already occurring, then sit down and try to keep a fair distance between each other.

Saturday continues in similar fashion. Certainly pleasant again if you hang-on to dry weather.....very warm, humid conditions and strong sunshine but mixed with a good deal of towering clouds across Somerset, some of these developing into thunderstorms by the afternoon and evening.

Again, it's a hit-or-miss story for the Festival. Mother Nature aims the crosshairs to deliver storms, not us, so we can't be clearer until the day is underway! I'm staffing our weatherdesk over the weekend and until I'm watching the local rainfall radar, I simply cannot pinpoint the local chance of showers. Again, fingers-crossed....

By Sunday, we're expecting the risk of showers and storms will have reduced somewhat, with a better bias towards dry, fine conditions and again remaining warm. We'll offer a clearer assessment for the weekend in our next updates.

And we'll update this feature throughout the week with all the latest forecasts