AS THE first bands take to the stage today at Reading Festival music fans will be keeping their fingers crossed the sun stays out.

After torrential downpours on Wednesday morning much of the site has already turned into a mudbath.

But muddy routes have been forged around the site and around the camping areas as these stunning photographs show.

Forecasters' predictions have changed throughout the week but more rain looks likely before The Libertines close the festival on Sunday night.

Although not the wettest year on record the University of Reading's weather team have crunched the numbers and found out which of this year's headliners has brought the bad luck.

Chris Webber, a weather researcher at the university is providing daily forecast updates for festival-goers.

He said: "With all these heavy downpours in the days leading up to the festival, and the jet stream likely to steer more rainy weather our way, it looks like this could be one of the muddiest Reading Festivals ever.

"I've been looking into some of the log books from the university's weather station, which date back to 1908, to see what quirks of history there are in the meteorological record regarding Reading Festival. Seems rain has been a constant in recent years – it's rained over the August Bank Holiday weekend every year since 2007.

"Metallica, who are due to headline the Main Stage on Saturday night, also seem to be gods of rain as well as gods of rock. From our records, of the three occasions they have graced Reading Festival, it has rained heavily on that day twice. And this year, it looks like they may bring a massive downpour once again. Saturday night is not looking great right now.

"If you're heading to the festival site, I'd be thinking sturdy boots are the must-have items of 2015."

Despite a wet start to the event forecasters are predicting a mostly dry weekend with Saturday seeing the only real danger of rain.

The sold-out festival will see the Thames-side farmland packed to the rafters with campers for the three-day event.

Headliners Mumford and Sons, Metallica and The Libertines will take turns closing the main stage over the weekend and an estimated 170,000 people will have passed through the gates by Sunday evening.

Photos by Vagner Vidal, INS News Agency