Music fans forced to sleep in cars as Isle of Wight Festival turns into a mudbath

Music fans forced to sleep in cars as Isle of Wight Festival turns into a mudbath

• Organiser promises to give refunds for unused tickets
  
• Queues leave 600 stranded on ferries across the Solent
• Heavy rain to batter Britain, with North West warned of flood risk
• England's one-day cricket international against West Indies rained off
  

PUBLISHED: 02:54 EST, 22 June 2012 | UPDATED: 09:17 EST, 22 June 2012

Hundreds of music fans have been forced to sleep in their cars after traffic became gridlocked when heavy rains turned the Isle of Wight Festival site turned into a mudbath.

The queues caused ferry companies to suspend their services and about 600 people were last night stranded on ferries on the Solent as the boats could not be disembarked because of traffic build-up on the island.

The fiasco, which saw some motorists stuck for up to 22 hours in tailbacks as long as seven miles, has prompted the festival's organiser to promise frustrated fans they will get their money back if they return their tickets unused.

Festivalgoers have been cursing the weather after the event's car parks became water-logged, while all across the mainland people are bracing for a day of downpours. Parts of the North West were today warned of flood risks, with up to four inches of rain expected to fall.

In Leeds, England's third one-day cricket international against th e West Indies had to be called off, and at Royal Ascot, racegoers' top hats and glad rags were left soggy and mud-spattered as visitors struggled to negotiate the swamp-like car park.

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Water-logged: Blaise Franklin (left) and Nathan Mursall wallow in the mud at the campsite at the Isle of Wight festival

Beyond caring: One woman smiles through the dirt after a spot of mud wrestling while another begins the slog up a slippery slope

Welcome to the British summer: The unseasonal downpour makes a bog of the festival site, prompting revellers to opt for the wellingtons and hotpants combo

Dirty work: Four friends wade through the filth, determined to enjoy the first day of bands

Problems on the Isle of Wight started after heavy rain fell yesterday, soaking the car parks at Seaclose Park, Newport, meaning that they became churned up with mud as cars began to arrive.

This led to the car parks becoming inaccessible and long queues stretching back to the port towns of Ryde and Cowes.

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Police led many of those waiting to Newport Football Club, where they were given shelter overnight.

Now organisers are urging anyone still waiting to get to the island to leave their cars.

A festival spokeswoman said: 'If you are on the mainland we are advising people not to travel by car.

'There is a ferry service for foot passengers and this will be the easiest route. We are sorry for any disruptions caused.'

Promoter John Giddings said in an interview with BBC Radio Solent: 'Believe you me, I am doing everything in my power and the police are telling me to do everything in my power, because they want an emergency plan from me by Sunday about how we are going to get people out.'

He added: 'If you've got your ticket I have to refund you if you send it back to me. I mean, that's outrageous. If someone has suffered that, I don't believe I should keep their money.'

Fiona Gregory, from Salehurst in East Sussex, said that she had left home at 1.30pm yesterday and was still stuck in queues in the early hours of this morning.

Downcast: Music fans trample through fields ruined by footfall after a night of heavy rain

A couple hold hands as they concentrate on keeping their footing amid the slippery muck

My home for the weekend: A man stands ankle-deep in mud as he surveys the sodden campsite

Standstill: Queues reach back to the port across several lanes

THE BANDS ROCKING IN THE RAIN

• Friday: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Elbow, Example, Feeder
• Saturday: Pearl Jam, Jessie J, Biffy Clyro, Madness
• Sunday: Bruce Springsteen the E Street Band (pictured), Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, The Vaccines

She told the BBC: 'I'm so upset. It's a complete disaster. On the island it has been a nightmare. There is no police, no diversion signs, nothing.

'Now we're about two miles away on a country lane and we have moved one mile in the last four hours.'

While thousands endured queues on the island, other parts of Britain were preparing for their own travel misery as downpours threaten to flood roads.

The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for heavy rain across parts of Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire, with 2-2.4 inches of rainfall expected across much of the area and up to 4 inches in some places.

The heavy rain could lead to surface water flooding of roads and land, and there is also a risk of floods from rivers in built-up areas which are quickly affected by large amounts of rainfall, the Environment Agency warned.

The Government agency has urged people in Greater Manchester, Liverpool, the Wirral, North Cheshire and Lancashire to be prepared for the possibility of flooding from this afternoon through to Saturday.

Parts of south-east England, East Anglia, the north and east Midlands and north and west Wales are also on alert for localised surface water flooding today and into the weekend, the Environment Agency said.

Matt Dobson, a forecaster with Meteogroup, said: 'The worst weather overnight has been across the North West and into Cheshire, where between 0.4 and 0.8 inches fell. Central and southern Scotland were also badly hit.

'Throughout the day the rain really is going to develop from South West Scotland, across Northern Ireland down into north-west England.

'It will be very wet in those areas, with the worst of it in Cumbria and the western Pennines, from Manchester up to Cumbria and across into south-west Scotland, and in north-west Wales as well.

'There will be 0.8 to 1.2 inches of rain quite widely, with maybe as much as 2 to 2.4 inches of rain over upland areas such as the fells of Cumbria and the western Pennines.'

Faster on foot: Music fans laden down with luggage stroll past the queues

Grin and bear it: One festivalgoer appears to keep his sense of humour as he smiles under an umbrella

IT'S OFFICIALLY TOO WET TO SWIM

A swimming contest has had to be called off - because it is too wet.

The Great North Swim at Windermere in the Lake District is just one of many sporting events ruined by heavy rain.

The three-day event, which started today and includes a range of races, attracts 10,000 swimmers from across Britain.

But a two-mile race due to take place yesterday had to be put back until Sunday.

Organisers say torrential rain and winds gusting up to 40mph will stop safety kayakers who accompany the swimmers being able to see.

David Hart, of organisers Nova International, said: 'Participants are always going to get wet.

'But there’s been a severe weather warning for the whole area. There is going to be torrential rain and winds averaging 25mph and gusting up to 40mph.

'There is even a small risk of thunder and lightning - welcome to th e British summer!

'The site is set up to deal with British weather conditions but torrential rain can reduce visibility on the water for the safety kayakers and visibility is a key part of the safety conditions.'

Swimmers are being offered a full refund of their entry fee if they are unable to take part.

The EA said it had mobilised teams across the North West to check flood defences, clear river blockages and monitor river levels to try to reduce the risk of flooding.

The public are also urged to remain vigilant and check the Environment Agency website and Twitter feed for the latest updates and warnings, with a number of flood alerts and more serious warnings expected.

People are being warned to stay away from swollen rivers and not to drive through floodwater.

Parts of England and Wales have been hit by flooding in recent weeks in the face of unusually wet weather, which came after two dry winters in a row that had left swathes of England in drought.

Firefighters in North Yorkshire said they responded to more than 25 flooding calls as a wave of heavy rain moved across the county last night.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire Rescue Service said crews were sent to 14 different locations, many involving flooded properties, although the incidents are thought to have been isolated.

He said areas affected were around Harrogate, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge in the west of the county and Bedale and Leeming Bar in the north.

There were also reports a house was damaged when it was struck by lightning in Osgodby, near Selby.

In Leeds, England's clash with the West Indies was abandoned without a ball being bowled after persistent rain at Headingley.

Umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Richard Illingworth made the decision to call off the game following a brief inspection at 1pm after the rain, which had also fallen all day yesterday, left the playing surface sodden.

England had already wrapped up the series 2-0 with the sides due to meet in a one-off Twenty20 international at Trent Bridge on Sunday.

Back on the Isle of Wight, revellers have been venting their frustration on Twitter over the past 24 hours, with one user - tweeting as @ClashCityWomble - telling followers how, by 5pm yesterday, he had already been stuck in Portsmouth for three hours.

At 7.40am today, the same fan posted a message directed at the festival's official account: 'no sleep for 24 hours, camped in a car on a road in the IOW for 10. #shambles #amateurs'.

Islanders who were not planning to attend the festival have also been affected, with local media reporting Wootton Primary School, in the north of the island, had been forced to close because staff were unable to get to work.

More than 50,000 people are travelling to the festival which is being headlined by Pearl Jam, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.

Entertainment started last night for those who had reached the site although the Big Top stage was evacuated at one stage because of heavy wind and rains - but it did reopen for headliners Primal Scream.

The Charlatans also played an exclusive warm-up gig at Spitbank Fort, a Napoleonic Fort in the middle of the Solent, organised by Absolute Radio.

In for the long haul: Cars wait to board the Red Funnel ferry in Southampton heading to the Isle of Wight

Are we there yet? A queue of traffic tails off into the distance across the rain-slicked tarmac

Washout: Two lone cricket fans in the stands at Headingley, Leeds, where England's one-day international against the West Indies was rained off

Disappointed spectators at Headingley clown around with Hawaiian shirts and children's umbrellas

Racegoers at Royal Ascot were forced to pair formalwear with wellies and umbrellas

False start: A racegoer at Royal Ascot tries to move her Mercedes after it becomes stuck in swampy conditions in the car park

Wet weekend: Relentless heavy rain will hit the North West today, spreading across the north and into southwest Scotland. It will persist in the west into Saturday and will cover much of the UK on Sunday, when it will begin to let up

Video by Steve Mew (@brainzuk)

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