Glastonbury 2019: Thousands arrive for 49th festival - which could be hottest ever

Thousands of revellers gathered on Wednesday ahead of the gates opening for what could be the hottest Glastonbury on record.

The festival’s campsites opened at 8am for the 49th festival at the Somerset farm, transforming the fields into a temporary city of more than 200,000 people.

Dozens of ticket-holders slept in their cars overnight in a bid to snag a good spot in the queue before starting to wait in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Campers are due to be greeted by cloudy but dry weather when the gates open at 8am, with sunshine and temperatures of up to 23 degrees from mid-afternoon.

But temperatures are set to soar by the weekend, with record-breaking heat expected on Friday and Saturday.

A 2,000 mile wide plume of hot air dubbed the “Saharan bubble” being blown across Africa is expected to bring hot conditions across the Continent to Britain following days of widespread downpours and flooding in the UK.

With temperatures hitting up to 32C on Friday, and up to 35C on Saturday, Worthy Farm festival-goers have been advised to “drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration”.

Organisers also urged those attending to bring their own reusable water bottles to the 900-acre site, as 2019 marks the first year that single-use plastic bottles have been banned.

The five-day event, the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world, will be headlined by Stormzy, The Killers and The Cure.

Standard tickets for Glastonbury 2019 sold out in just 36 minutes.

In 2017, the Wednesday of Glastonbury Festival was the hottest day in the event's history, with temperatures hitting 31C and leading to dozens of people being treated by paramedics.

However, only eight years of the festival - including the first Glastonbury in 1970 - have not seen any rain.

Music fans will be able to watch acts including Stormzy, George Ezra and Lauryn Hill on the iconic Pyramid Stage on Friday.

On Saturday, The Killers, Liam Gallagher, Janet Jackson and Hozier will take to the Pyramid Stage, while The Cure, Vampire Weekend and Miley Cyrus will perform there on Sunday.

The festival takes place from June 26-30.