Rivers of mud return to Glastonbury

Glastonbury mud
Festivalgoers brave the conditions which, as forecast, have taken a turn for the worse on Saturday. Photo: Andy Butterton/PA

Loathe though we are to relish another publication's distress, we do suspect that the editor of the Q Glastonbury Daily might be regretting the choice of headline for today's issue: Good Day Sunshine. Because the rain has come to Glastonbury, and it's not a pretty sight. Paths which yesterday were robust and firm have suddenly transformed into rivers of mud, and tents are beginning to sag. However, we are reliably informed that the sun is forecast to shine again this afternoon.

As of this morning, there were 130,600 people on the Glastonbury site, and there were 35,000 vehicles parked. This number was bigger than it should have been, because Oasis apparently turned up with one more tourbus than they were supposed to. Rumours that they'd nicked Blur's bus when someone left it parked in a sidestreet in Burnage could not be confirmed.

There have been 158 people evicted from the site so far for a combination of offences, including rogue trading, carrying weapons or the rather more mundane absence of a ticket. Alison Goldfrapp was allowed to stay, though, despite wearing black knee-length heels and a black swimsuit with a horse's tail attached. Crimes against fashion are, apparently, not an eviction offence. There have been 121 more traditional crimes reported so far this year, down from 196 last year, and there have been 83 arrests.

Just over a thousand people have now been treated for medical ailments, though nothing serious has been reported. And despite the rivers of effluent flowing from the various sanitary facilities around Glastonbury, the Environment Agency has reported that the streams around the site are "pollution-free." Which rather begs the question: where are all the toilet contents being put? Rumours that Oasis had offered Blur's tourbus as a receptacle again could not be confirmed.