Revellers arrive early for Glastonbury Festival Yui Mok/PA Wire

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Why wait 'till the weekend? Sixty-thousand excited revellers were due to descend on the 900-acre Glastonbury site today as the festival prepares to get under way.

All 137,00 tickets to this year's event have been sold and a festival spokesman said that up to half of ticket-holders are expected to be on-site by Thursday.

While forecasters predict "glorious sunshine" for Michael Eavis's paying guests today, the weather is expected to turn at the weekend, with the threat of "torrential thunderstorms" .

Meteogroup said last night that today's sunny start might soon give way to bursts of heavy rain liable to make the site "very muddy".

Meteogroup's Rachel Vince said: "Wednesday is not looking too bad at all with lots of glorious sunshine. There will be only a light breeze so pitching tents shouldn't be a problem.

"Thursday should be generally dry with sunny periods although there is a threat of thundery showers which can't be ruled out. The temperature will be around 22C, though."

But by the time headline acts like Lily Allen, Neil Young, and Bruce Springsteen take the stage, fans could be enduring the usual wet ‘n’ wild conditions.

Ms Vince said: "Unfortunately, on Friday and Saturday Glastonbury could be in the line of fire from thundery showers. It could be torrential thunderstorms at times. There should be periods of sun between the showers. That's the nature of summer in the UK.

"It will still be warm with highs of 23C on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"It might be the case that the showers won't hit Glastonbury, but it remains a threat from Thursday onwards."

A reformed Blur, who are headlining on Sunday, may fare better with "less severe" showers.

She added: "It is likely that if there is a significant amount of rain Glastonbury could turn very muddy, because of the sheer volume of people. The advice is to pack your wellies... and your sunglasses."

Festival spokesman John Shearlaw said: "There are 30,000 people on site now, working flat out to get everything ready. The last thing people are thinking about is the weather.

"Glastonbury has been going for 39 years. What can you do? The festival isn't God. You can't sit around waiting for the weather.

"People are coming earlier and earlier – maybe at last half will come today. The preparations are sound and we can't wait to start."

In 2005, storms and flash flooding caused havoc at the site, with many festival-goers having to use their tents as makeshift boats to float around waterlogged areas.

In 2007, more rain ensured a similar mudbath, though a new draining system meant a repeat of 2005 was avoided.

The gates of the festival opened at 8am today.

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