Early arrivals at Glastonbury, with waits of up to a few hours because of bag tests and metal detector scans. photograph: Nigel Roddis/EPA
individuals attending Glastonbury festival this weekend were urged to "pack evenly" due to strict new security measures within the wake of the terror attacks in Manchester and London.
pageant organisers said these coming into the site should still additionally expect lots longer queues on account of stricter security.
The gates to invaluable Farm opened at 7am on Wednesday however keen campers waited more than three hours to get on to the website, with every area to an preliminary bag search and an extra with handheld steel detectors.
Anna Harris and Georgia Nightingale, both 25, from south London, set off at 1.30am and entered the gates at eight.10am. Harris, who has attended the competition for the previous three years, mentioned: "security does look stricter this 12 months, they had been checking baggage. there were some tests however there are such a lot of people and it's so sizzling. The queues were improved than i thought they might be."
Joe Stacey, 23, from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, activate at 3am. He pointed out: "protection changed into a lot tighter than it usually is. They had been browsing each grownup. The queues had been staggered too, we were separated into lines." His buddy, Devoney Payne, 22, from Frome, Somerset, noted: "each grownup had their bag checked. there have been police canine and we noticed a metal detector."
Assistant chief constable Caroline Peters, gold commander for the Glastonbury pageant police plan, noted in a statement: "Public protection is always our excellent precedence but we additionally desire all and sundry going to the festival to have a pretty good time.
"There isn't any intelligence to indicate a danger to Glastonbury pageant but we, together with the event organisers, should be taking further safety precautions this year.
"The policing fashion might appear and feel a bit of distinct this 12 months – there can be a higher visibility of officers on the perimeter of pageant assisting protection with searches."
She added that competition-goers should still be "alert however no longer alarmed".
in the meantime, these hoping for a sun-kissed Glastonbury can also find themselves a bit upset. The forecast for the competition marks an end to the heatwave which has gripped Britain this week, breaking a 40-year record, with temperatures dropping to 20C on Thursday.
the primary campers during the gates had a chance to soak up the solar and the 31C temperatures, but by Thursday morning it'll give way to thick clouds, with even opportunity of rain within the early hours of the morning.
but the scorching dry weather of June potential that the helpful Farm floor is not likely to develop into the churned mudbath of final yr, when it rained within the week build up to the event and persisted relentlessly over the competition's five days. The most likely chance of rain should be on Saturday morning, but even this is predicted to be gentle.
Oli Claydon, a spokesperson for the Met office, noted: "The cloud will are available in a single day and the theme of that cloud continues in reality through Thursday. There are some weather warnings for rain but they don't cowl Glastonbury, they're a lot additional east so Glastonbury could get away with being a relatively dry yr."
The thick cloud and temperatures between 18C and 20C will proceed into Friday, Saturday and Sunday, losing to lows of 11C at evening.
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