UK weather forecast news: Weekend washout as heavy rainfall and 60mph winds cause travel chaos and force Camp Bestival to be cancelled

Tom Powell30 July 2018

Heavy rainfall and gusts of up to 60mph have battered Britain during a washout weekend which saw transport chaos and a large festival cancelled.

Camp Bestival organisers said they were "utterly devastated and heartbroken" to pull the plug on the advice of safety teams over the severe weather conditions .

Revellers at the family festival, held at Lulworth Castle in Dorset, were battered by gusts of up to 45mph, while around 20mm of rain fell over 12 hours.

"When you have got quite heavy rain that follows a dry spell the water struggles to soak into the ground," said Met Office meteorologist Rachael West.

"It has been very wet and windy - not ideal conditions for camping by any means."

Cancelled event: Camp Bestival was forced to end early due to stormy weather
Getty Images

Organisers of the Saltburn Food Festival in North Yorkshire were also forced to drastically scale back the event due to the bad weather.

Founder Lorna Jackson said: "It's simply unsafe to go ahead. We are gutted for the tens of thousands of people who'd planned to come, and over 100 local food producers."

Holidaymakers also faced a third day of travel misery at Stansted Airport after storms grounded flights earlier this week .

Large crowds were seen queuing at Stansted on Sunday morning
Twitter/Jonathan Senior

Thousands have been hit with flight cancellations and delays so far, the Independent's travel editor Simon Calder told the BBC.

And the disruption continued on Sunday, with frustrated passengers complaining of long queues and cancellations on social media.

Wales saw the wettest of Sunday's weather with 48.4mm of rain falling in Capel Curig in the north of the country.

Large waves hit the sea wall amid strong winds in Dawlish, south-west Britain
REUTERS

The strongest winds were on the Isle of White, which was hit by gusts of around 60mph, while inland areas across the UK saw speeds of about 40mph.

A warning for wind and rain, in place for Wales and the south of England, was lifted on Sunday as the heavy rain and stronger winds pushed further north.

"We did just have some pretty exceptional temperatures in the days just gone so today has got a fairly cool feel with the wind and rain," said Ms West.

London was lashed with more rain on Sunday
PA

"Temperatures are going to gradually creep up over the next few days into the working week, particularly across England and Wales.

"By the time we get through to the end of the week we could see temperatures in the high 20s or even up to 30C, most likely across the southern parts of England."

The return of the warm weather will prompt further safety warnings to those thinking of cooling off in the water after a number of unconnected incidents in recent days.

A six-year-old girl died after going into the water at Margate Harbour, in Kent, despite rescue efforts.

UK Heatwave - In pictures

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The body of 15-year-old Ben Quartermaine was recovered near Clacton Pier, in Essex, after a search was launched on Thursday.

In Bedfordshire the body of a man aged in his late 20s was recovered from the Great Ouse river after reports someone had got into difficulty there on Friday afternoon.

A man's body was recovered from the Jubilee River in Slough on Thursday, Thames Valley Police said, and on Friday a body was found by police in Warwickshire searching for a 17-year-old boy who disappeared after getting into difficulty in a quarry lake.

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