Trying to predict the weather for Glastonbury is nigh impossible, but here are some historical weather facts that may help with what to expect

Last Updated on September 29 , 2019

Each Glastonbury Festival year, as the anticipated event draws closer to fruition, so do the expectations, speculations and fears of over 135,000 Glasto-goers, as to what weather they’ll be faced with once they arrive at Worthy Farm and make it their home for the weekend.

The weather plays a major role when it comes to Glastonbury, as it can have a substantial effect on the whole experience.

With long-range weather forecasts being a fickle matter, any prediction at this point would be as accurate as a blindfolded person pissing during an earthquake. That being said, we’ve decided to take a look at some historical Glastonbury weather figures and facts, as we count down the hours, minutes (and yes, some of us even the seconds) till those big beautiful green gates open up for what will most definitely turn out to be the best party of the year (and for many a life-changing experience).






This year will mark the 36th Glastonbury Festival and be 49 years since the first ever event was held on September 19, 1970 (one day after the death of the late great Jimmy Hendrix). From that year forth, the Festival date was rescheduled to coincide with the weekend following the Summer Solstice. The Festival back then was attended by approximately 1500 people, with an entrance fee of just £1, which also included free milk from the local farm – The weather that day was dry, with no rainfall recorder at any of the observation stations around the site.

Glastonbury 1971 was the first year of the now-iconic Pyramid Stage, with the maximum temperature recorded at 21.3°C.

Up until 2017, Glastonbury 1984 was noted as the hottest day in the Festival’s history, coming in at a wapping 27.5°C.

In addition to being a particularly wet festival with 43.8mm of rain, Glastonbury 1985 was also recorded as the windiest Glastonbury Festival year to date, with maximum gusts reaching 36mph.

FACT: To date, there have been 20 years where the festival remained free of mud.

In 1989 temperatures reached 26.6°C, making that year the warmest average year on record.






Despite there being only a few millimetres of rain during the weekend, there was rain in 8 out of the 9 days leading up to ‘the year of the mud’, also known as Glastonbury 1997 – with 78mm falling in total. Before the 1997 festival, about 110% of the average rainfall for June fell in the runup to the opening day.

FACT: Of the 15 muddy years recorded to date, only 11 years were so bad that they have been categorised as mud-baths. Those years were: 1982, 1985, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016.

The 2005 festival was delayed on opening day by heavy rain and thunderstorms, several stages including the Acoustic Stage were struck by lighting. The valley was also hit by flash floods which left some of the areas under 4 foot of water.

By 2007 £750,000 worth of flood defences were in place, so flooding was minimal, but as you could expect it was still very muddy and wet. At nearby Rodney Stoke weather station, 60.1mm of rain fell on the wettest day.

Glastonbury 2010 had some of the sunniest weather – In addition to celebrating Glastonbury Festival’s 40th anniversary, 2010 saw three days of sunshine with temperatures soaring to 27.3°C on the 26th of June.