Glastonbury 2024: What Will The Weather (And The Traffic) Will Be Like This Year?

Planning for any big festival takes a sufficient amount of organising before the partying starts, but Glastonbury is an entirely different beast.

The UK’s world famous music festival returns for yet another year from Wednesday 26 to Sunday 30 June, where Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA are all set to headline on the iconic Pyramid stage.

With the annual bash kicking off this week, some 200,000 festival goers are preparing to descend on Worthy Farm.

Here’s everything you need to know to prepare – including the weather forecast…

When is the best time to travel to Glastonbury?

Most car parks at the festival will be open from 9pm on Tuesday 25 June, although it’s worth pointing out that festival-goers are not allowed to camp in them. If you’re willing, you could get there nice and early to secure a good parking spot – but that will mean waiting in either your vehicle or the entrance queue overnight.

Most people travel to the site on Wednesday, which is why it’s usually the worst day of the five-day stretch in terms of traffic delays. Thursday is significantly quieter, but that does mean you would miss the initial excitement of the festival, and, of course, potentially your preferred camping spot. 

Entering and leaving the festival on Friday and Saturday is usually quite easy because it’s already the middle of the extravaganza, so traffic levels are quite low.

The National Highways’ emergency planner for the South West, John Ingram has previously encouraged festival-goers to “check our traffic and travel information channels” and to “set off early and allow plenty of time”.

He added that warm weather means it’s worth “pre-checking your vehicles for oil, fuel and coolant levels” as well as correctly inflated tyres.

Travel with drinking water too, and don’t forget to take breaks!

What is the best route to get into Glastonbury?

The busiest road is usually the M5, particularly junctions 25 and 23.

But, the A39 and A361 get pretty full too on the peak travel days.

The A303 and A37 are the main ways for drivers to travel from London too, especially the A303 eastbound.

However, the actual village of Glastonbury is five miles away from the site meaning it’s normally pretty undisturbed by the excitement of the music festival.

If you’re dropping people off, try to avoid doing so on local roads as that can lead to more build-ups (and can mean a long trek to the actual event).

Instead, try using the Bath and West Showground as a drop-off spot – festival-goers can jump on the free bus to Pedestrian Gate A.

When is the best time to leave Glastonbury?

Traffic starts to build up again on Sunday, with many choosing to leave after the headline act finishes up.

And this congestion only gets worse through Monday, with experts arriving setting off at around 6am as the optimum time (4pm is apparently the “worst time” to start that long journey home).

What will the weather be like at Glastonbury?

What will the weather be like at Glastonbury 2024?

According to the Met Office, Glastonbury is looking like a dry one this year. For the most part, at least...

Wednesday

You’re going to need to lay sunscreen on thick for day one, as sunny intervals are expected throughout the day – with highs of 27°C.

Thursday

Things will cool down by Thursday, with highs of 19°C, and cloud cover forecasted for most of the day (still, don’t forget that SPF!). There’s also a 50% chance of rain from around 1pm.

Friday

The Met predicts “sunny intervals changing to partly cloudy” and a high of 17°C by 1pm, but the farm should remain dry as Dua Lipa takes to the stage as the festival’s first headliner.

Saturday

There should be some sun early Saturday, but cloud cover is expected by late morning. However, there will still be highs of 20°C and – thankfully! – no rain predicted.

Sunday

The final day of the festival might just be the most pleasant weather-wise, as temperatures are expected to reach 19°C at 1pm and the sun is out for most of the day.

Monday

Thankfully things are looking dry for the packing up too, and by midday there will probably be some cloud cover. But still expect sunny intervals and a temperature high of 19°C by 1pm.