UPDATE Tuesday 9th August: The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for extreme heat at Boomtown

As the Met Office warns another hot spell is on its way next week, today’s weather modelling suggests peak daytime temperatures at Boomtown Fair could begin at 33-34°C on Wednesday before rising to a scorching 38°C by Sunday.

The prediction comes from the GFS prediction model, and while there’s still plenty of time for the forecast to change, the same model correctly predicted July’s 40°C heatwave two weeks ahead.

Earlier this afternoon, the Met Office said: “An area of high pressure building from the Atlantic into the south and south west of England will bring rising temperatures with some areas expected to reach low or even mid-30s by the end of next week.” – though they’re not expecting the heat to break any of the records set in July.

Warning – Major heatwave being forecast for Boomtown by GFS. Just to be clear, this is only a forecast, and forecasts are often wrong. That said, GFS correctly predicted the recent 40c heatwave in the UK from around 2 weeks in advance. What are your thoughts? pic.twitter.com/WjMrxN6f3H

The combination of the existing dry ground conditions and expected high temperatures has forced Boomtown to ban to use of all cooking stoves and other gas equipment, such as Jetboil’s, across the festival site. Hot water urns will be provided around the campsites for Boomtown citizens to cook instant food or make hot drinks, and members of the Boomtown Chat Facebook group have been suggesting alternative meals you can prepare without cooking equipment.

Organisers have also cut back on the use of fire and pyrotechnics within the event, particularly when it comes to theatricals and street performers. The main stages will still use pyro effects as normal – on the basis these are controlled environments with the onsite firefighters on hand.

While it’s still too early to be sure if Boomtown temperatures will be in the mid-20s or mid-30s, it’s looking pretty certain to be hot and sunny throughout the festival, so make sure you come prepared. Bring a hat and plenty of suncream, then be mindful of the heat throughout the day. Don’t go too hard until the sun goes down, find some shade to rest in if you’re not feeling great, and make sure you stay hydrated – even if that means spacing out your beers with plenty of water.

You won’t be able to buy plastic bottles at Boomtown, so make sure you’ve brought a couple of reusable bottles with you to top up from the free water points dotted around the site. If you can afford it, get yourself a blackout tent so you don’t wake up roasting when the sun hits it at 7am – a Fresh&Black tent can keep your bedroom 20°C cooler than it otherwise might be.

An umbrella or gazebo might help provide some shade to chill out in, and if you’re worried about five sweaty days without any showers, spend about a tenner on a portable solar camping shower to take with you. Fill it up from the water points and leave the bag in the sun – with the temperatures expected it’ll warm up in just a couple of hours – then hang it up high or get a friend to hold it up and you’ve got your own hot shower without any queues.

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Met Office chief forecaster Steve Willington said: “We could see parts of the UK entering heatwave conditions if the above-average temperatures last for three days or more. Many areas of the UK, especially the south will witness temperatures several degrees higher than average, but these values are likely to be well below the record-breaking temperatures we saw in mid-July. 

“As the high pressure builds there is very little meaningful rain in the forecast, especially in those areas in the south of England, which experienced very dry conditions last month. Elsewhere in the UK, such as in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, rain-bearing weather fronts will make limited headway against the high pressure, bringing some rain to north-western parts of the UK.”

Rebekah Sherwin is a deputy chief meteorologist with the Met Office. Commenting on the drivers for the hot spell, she said: “The weather pattern bringing next week’s hot spell is different to the one responsible for last month’s record-breaking temperatures which saw already hot air being drawn up from southern Europe adding to our own home-grown heat.  

“This time, that is much less likely; instead, temperatures will build steadily within the lingering area of high pressure.  

“There is some uncertainty about next week’s temperatures, although in early August sunshine in the UK doesn’t have the heating potential of mid-July as the sun is lower in the sky and the hours of daylight are marginally shorter. Both of these factors suggest that we’re very unlikely to see temperatures peak much above low to mid 30s. However, this would still be a hot spell of weather.” 

Boomtown has been completely sold out for a while, and with official fan-to-fan resales ending yesterday, exercise extreme caution if you’re trying to buy a ticket. You won’t get into the festival unless the name on the ticket matches your photo ID at the gate.

This year’s Boomtown line-up is being kept secret until right before the event, to encourage people to attend for the festival itself rather than specific big-name acts. We now know the line-up will be revealed on Sunday 7th August in Boomtown’s official Woov app. However, if you can’t wait until then to start building your own Boomtown playlist, check out Boomtown Source’s list of rumoured and ‘self-confirmed’ artists. Dozens of artists have already let slip they’ll be at Boomtown this summer on their own social media channels and tour posters.

Earlier this month, Boomtown organisers revealed the first official map for 2022, ahead of the festival’s long-awaited return next month, giving us our first look at the new layout. Illustrated by @clraws, the map shows how a mix of spectacular new districts and old favourites will be arranged in the area formerly known as the ‘Downtown Bowl’.

A more detailed map is set to appear in the ‘Woov’ app in the coming days.

For the first time ever, Boomtown will use “every last inch” of the bowl to build their theatrical city, complete with immersive venues and huge stages. In previous years, the bowl has always contained some camping along with unused space hidden behind the main stages and between the city streets. This means while the main area of the festival will be much more compact, there’s still absolutely loads to see and you won’t have any massive uphill treks between the different main stages.

The aerial image above shows the former ‘Downtown Bowl’ and gives a good idea of how much space has been left unused, or dedicated to camping, in Boomtown’s recent years. This time, we’re expecting all of the space within the outer perimeter of lighting to be used for the City, so while the ‘Uptown’ area visible behind the woods won’t be returning, the total size of the CIty might not change much at all.

The forest parties at the Hidden Woods, Tangled Roots and Tribe of Fog all feature on the map and will return to their previous locations – so despite not having ‘Uptown’ to get to, you’ll still get chance to climb that mammoth hill into the Tribe of Frog woods and the Hilltop campsite.

Boomtown Fair returns to the Matterley Bowl near Winchester from Wednesday 10th to Sunday 14th August 2022.

Image credits: First: Sam Warrenger / TheFestivals Second: Sam Warrenger / TheFestivals Third: Scott Salt Aerial: The Big Ladder Photography Final: George Harrison Disclosures: TheFestivals is funded through advertising and sometimes earns a commission on purchases made through links on this website, including in this article: None

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