Bad news for festival fans as Sunrise becomes the first event to fall victim to the British summertime as flash floods sweep through Somerset.
With heavy rain disrupting Gatecrasher, and more predicted for the weekend, organisers have taken the step of calling off this year’s Sunrise festival. The event, set to happen this weekend, was called off following a decision by Avon and Somerset police.
Another sign that the Brits love for festivals annoyingly mix with our soggy weather, let’s hope the skies get it right for Glastonbury where the Met Office have predicted ‘above average rainfall.’ 20,000 people were due to see The Orb, The Beat, System 7 and Seize The Day appear at Sunrise, reports the BBC. Organisers said the decision was made for safety reasons after heavy rain waterlogged the ground.
Much of Somerset and the surrounding counties were hit by heavy rainfall last night (May 29th) which led to flash flooding.
It’s understood that 5,000 people had already arrived on site when the heavy rain began. An operation was taking place to help stall-holders and revellers who had already arrived to leave the site.
Devon and Somerset fire service spokesman Andy Newland explained to BBC News: “a tremendous amount of water came down with very little warning and the surface water drainage couldn’t handle it.”
By Katie Weatherall
