Glastonbury festivalgoers are bracing themselves for what is expected be the hottest day of the huge gathering with 30C forecast across Somerset.
Across a site with little shade, about 200,000 ticket holders were deploying what measures they could to cool off or avoid the sun, from parasols, sombreros and ice-creams to handheld battery-powered fans.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued its second amber heat health alert in two weeks, which covers the festival and the south-west of England as well as other parts of the country and will last until 6pm on Tuesday.
An amber alert means heat impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service, and may affect the wider population, not just the most vulnerable.
Festival organisers have issued advice online and via its app, including drinking plenty of water from the site’s 800-plus taps and pointing to medical facilities across Worthy Farm.
As temperatures reach their peak, Sir Rod Stewart will be performing the legends slot on the Pyramid Stage, the largest area of the festival – and one of the most open and least shaded.
Nicky Evans, from Aberdare in south Wales, says the unpredictable weather means ‘we now bring three sets of clothes’. Photograph: Robyn Vinter/The Guardian
Nicky Evans, from Aberdare in south Wales, was sheltering from the sun under a hot pink umbrella. Was it helping? “Oh absolutely, yes.”
He combined the umbrella – “for sun or rain!” – with a hat, sunscreen and water, which would make his shifts volunteering in the car park safer and easier.
“We’ve been coming 10 years, and it used to be notoriously wet but the last few years that seems to have changed,” he said. “We now bring three sets of clothes, just in case.”
Jack Cessford, 28, from Suffolk, who works in logistics, was sharing a paper fan bought on site with his university friend Robbie Gillum, who lives in Riyadh, where he works in consultancy.
Cessford said: “I’m getting a good tan on, just topping it up. No, it can be quite sticky. We’re trying to drink three litres of water a day.”
“You really need showers here, and there aren’t that many, in this situation it’s cold water that you need,” Gillum added. “The tents are so hot too, they’re so insulated.”
“There’s not much shade either,” said Cessford, sitting under the trees on the edge of the site near the Stone Circle. “But we have to listen to the music.”
Nick Strang, 35, and his partner, Mollie Kneeshaw, 30, from Nottingham, were clutching ice-creams while pushing their one-year-old daughter in a well-shaded trailer.
“It has been difficult,” said Kneeshaw, “but we’ve been forced to feed her water, keep [the trailer] shaded, keep air coming in.”
The couple said there were some areas such as the Green Kids field, with open-sided tents for shade.
Making sure their daughter has the right clothing on and using plenty of sun cream was also part of their strategy, Strang added.