Glastonbury music fans set up camp

More than 80,000 revellers undeterred by gathering storm clouds are setting up camp at Glastonbury Festival.

With light drizzles greeting early arrivals, forecasters warned festival-goers they would be "extremely lucky" to avoid thunderstorms looming over the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

But organiser Michael Eavis said he still believes his Worthy Farm site will avoid the worst of the weekend's wet weather.

Mr Eavis said: "This is the best place in Britain to be at the moment. We have been so lucky with the weather. It's not even raining - there was some drizzle for about an hour-and-a-half."

Mr Eavis said record numbers had arrived early for the world-famous music and arts event, which officially gets under way tomorrow.

He added: "The amount of early arrivals has doubled from 2005 and I am delighted because it is better value for them. We were walking around the site and they are all so excited."

Sunny spells with intervals of heavy rain have been predicted throughout the weekend.

Michael Dukes, forecast manager for MeteoGroup UK, said: "Low pressure is dominating so it is not good news for festival-goers - revellers should not be surprised to see a thunderstorm at some point."

"These short-sharp thunderstorms are the type that are likely to produce local flooding. So muddy scenes are likely."

Road congestion has been building around the site and rush-hour traffic came to a standstill in nearby Shepton Mallet this morning.