June 8, 2009 11:28

Glastonbury set to be hit by monsoon

It's as regular as clockwork, according to expert

Glastonbury festival could be hit by a monsoon this year, experts are predicting - and they believe the same monsoon has been responsible for bad weather at the event in the past.

The University Of Southampton's Dr Craig Wallace, who has studied computer models of the weather for 30 years, said that two separate waves of monsoon-type rain sweep across northwestern Europe each June - at the start of the month and then again in the final fortnight.

The yearly monsoon is the reason why events like Glastonbury and Wimbledon so often suffer from torrential rain.

The European monsoon is regular, but Wallace said that it was difficult to work out exactly why they strike each year - and did not make a specific prediction about this year's weather. "It's so predictable it seems easy to understand - but it's not," he told The Times.

The European monsoon, brought on by a series of westerly winds that travel across the Atlantic, is not as big or wet as its Indian counterpart.

The full Glastonbury line-up has now been announced - Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Blur are set to headline.