Wellies on for start of Isle of Wight Festival as weekend rain threatens to turn it in to Glastonbury-style mudbath

• .Met Office forecasters warn of wet weekend at the Isle of Wight festival
• .Revellers are being urged to 'firmly peg down tents' ahead of heavy rain
• .Organisers say there won't be a repeat of last year's weather-related chaos 

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Thousands of revellers at the Isle of Wight Festival were today being warned to firmly ‘peg down their tents’ by the Met Office as potential torrential rain threatens to turn the entire site into a mudbath.

Despite the expected poor weather, music fans were still determined to enjoy the festival which will see Bon Jovi, The Killers and The Stone Roses headlining over the weekend.

Many made the most of a brief spell of sunshine today, wearing sunglasses and summer clothes, as temperatures peaked at 16C. 

Kitted out: Festival goers at the Isle of Wight make sure they are prepared for the muddy conditions

Muddy waters: Forecasters have warned torrential rain could turn the festival site into a mudbath

Festival chic: Many made the most of the dry weather today as they donned their summer gear and enjoyed the sunshine

Festival-goers have been promised by the organisers that there will not be a repeat of last year's scenes of chaos when heavy rainfall turned the car parks into mudbaths.

The traffic queues even led to ferries becoming stranded in the Solent because they were unable to unload any more vehicles on to the island.

John Giddings, promoter of the festival, which is now in its 12th year, has invested in larger car parking fields with asphalted entrances to help prevent a recurrence.

 

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Among those heading across from Portsmouth to the island were Tazz McCarthy, 22, and Bronia Burlinska, 21, both from north London, who are returning to the festival for the second year.
Miss McCarthy said: 'I'm so looking forward to it. The atmosphere at the Isle of Wight Festival is amazing. It's the second time we've been to it and I'm still wearing my wristband from last year.'

Adding that the poor weather last year and the heavy winds hitting the island today had not put her off, she said: 'Last year, I saw our tent lopsided with a couple of bags on it and said 'I feel sorry for whoever's tent that is' and then realised it was ours.'

Clare Thornhill, 26, from Preston, Lancashire, who was heading across with friends Charlotte Gillett, 22, and Lucy Judge, 23, said: 'We're used to the bad weather. We're from up north, this is nothing to what we get at home.'

Wellies at the ready: Festival-goers at the Isle of Wight Festival at Seaclose Park are well-prepared for the expected bad weather

Calm before the storm: But festival Goers enjoyed the sunshine today in hot tubs at the new Bathing Under the Sky area before the bad weather hits

Sunny days: Organisers have promised there will not be a repeat of last year's scenes of chaos when heavy rainfall turned the car parks into mudbaths

Fun times: Festival-goers enjoy the sunshine at the Isle of Wight Festival today

Gloomy outlook: The Met Office today warned revellers at the festival to be prepared for rain

Flower-power: But music fans appeared far from worried about the weather today

Martin Payne, 36, from Helston, Cornwall, was arriving with 13 friends to celebrate his stag do.
Pushing a trolley with a dozen crates of beer and cider, he said: 'We're going to have four days of drinking and cavorting, well, not too much cavorting. The wedding's not until September so I've plenty of time to recover.'

As well as the practical improvements, Mr Giddings has created new attractions away from the main stages, with additions including a bohemian wood, cabaret club, extended dance tent and a bigger beach.

And festival-goers will also be able to experience art in action with a piece of stone the size of a Stonehenge slab being transformed into a sculpture during the weekend.

The luxury side of the festival has also expanded, with hot tubs and barrel saunas being available in a new spa area, and in the campsite, Tangerine Fields is providing hundreds of campers with pre-pitched tents with extra luxuries such as a pamper parlour and phone-charging.

A spokesman for the company, which has been operating for 10 years, said: 'All of Tangerine Fields' tents are re-used until they can't stay up late any more, then their good bits are taken and passed on to younger models, getting the maximum use out of everything before it is retired.

Firmly peg down the tents: Festival goers getting prepared for the rain at the Isle of Wight Festival at Newport Park on Isle of Wight

In for a muddy time: Festival goers arrive early ahead of the Isle of Wight Festival yesterday where it was already looking very muddy

'All of the left-over sleeping bags are donated to various local and national charities including Oxfam and Crisis and His Church and so far over 40,000 homeless people, Scout groups and hostels have directly benefited from Tangerine Fields and the kindness of their guests.'

Some Bon Jovi fans have been disappointed that guitarist Richie Sambora will not be performing after he recently quit the group's North American tour.

Other acts performing at the festival, which runs until Sunday at Seaclose Park, Newport, include Paul Weller, Emeli Sande, Jake Bugg, Everything Everything, Blondie, Imagine Dragons, Ellie Goulding, Rizzle Kicks and Republica, with the music starting tonight for campers with The Farm and Happy Mondays.

Police will be patrolling the festival site and have helped develop traffic plans to prevent a repeat of last year's problems.

Chief Superintendent Dave Hardcastle, of Hampshire Police, said: 'Our focus is on helping to ensure such a large influx and exit of people is handled safely and with the minimum of impact.'

Down in the mud: Two music fans at the Isle of Wight Festival, in Seaclose Park, Newport, walk through the mud in wellies yesterday as forecasters warn wet weather is on the way

Rewind a year: Organisers of the festival have promised there won't be a repeat of last year's weather-related chaos, pictured, when cars and revellers alike became trapped in the mud

 

Mid-June and still no sign of summer as stormy winds forecast for Father's Day weekend

A wet weekend will be followed by unsettled weather at the beginning of next week, forecaster have warned today.

Parts of the country were battered with rain today, but warmer weather may return for the second day of Royal Ascot which begins on Tuesday.

Met Office spokeswoman, Lindsay Mears, said: 'We have had some pretty unsettled weather over the last week, and we had some high winds on Thursday. 

A man tries his best to sell garden furniture at the Summer Market in St Ann's Square, in Manchester, during a rain storm

'But it looks like it is going to get warmer, with temperatures reaching into the early 20s by Wednesday, particularly in the south as the jet stream moves north.

'As for this weekend it looks like it's going to be rather wet in the south, but temperatures will be quite high.'

There will be a divide in the weather between north western and south eastern areas over the weekend, according to the Met Office.

Ms Mears said the jet stream, which until recently has remained in the same position right over the UK, is on the move again but will continue to bring squally weather.

The Summer Market in St Ann's Square, in Manchester, during a rain storm this afternoon

She said: 'The position of the jet stream makes the weather largely unsettled but there will be a north-south divide in the amount of rain people will get.

'As it moves north conditions in the south should come closer to the average for this time of year.

'The north will have cloud with no rain, whereas the south will have cloud and showery rain with sunny intervals on Saturday, but as it moves north the band of rain and wind will move with it.

'It will be cloudy and rainy in the south this weekend but that does not necessarily mean it won't be warm, there will be normal temperatures for the south but it will be cooler in the north.

'It will be similar on Sunday until Tuesday, with cloud and sunny intervals across the country until Wednesday morning.'

As for any rumours of a heatwave, she said: 'We haven't seen any evidence of one yet but whatever we say we try to say reasonably optimistically - so if that's what the forecasters tell us we will go with it.'