The Glastonbury Festival kicked off its 35th year with four feet of floodwater

This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by Chris Mei from The Weather Network, featuring stories about people, communities and events and how weather impacted them.

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The Glastonbury Festival is a five-day music and performing arts event that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, in England. It was first established in September 1970 and has been held (almost) annually since. And in 2005, it got off to a rough start.

On Friday, June 24, 2005, the Glastonbury Festival was about to kick off its 35th year when a thunderstorm hit the area.

The festival sold out in three hours and 20 minutes. A total of 112,500 people nabbed a ticket for the anticipated festival. Headliners of the 2005 festival included The White Stripes, Doves, and The Killers.

The opening day was delayed as heavy rain and thunderstorms flooded areas. Some areas of the campgrounds, festival sites, and even bathrooms received flash floods as high as four feet.

Dozens of tents were lost underwater and lightning strikes knocked out power lines. Festival-goers were seen swimming to the tents to retrieve their belongings.

Even though the festival was delayed in starting, the skies cleared by the afternoon. The festival attendees slipped on their wellies and waded through the festival.

Nine people were injured at the festival and the storm caused millions in damages. The 2005 Glastonbury Festival is remembered as “Farmageddon."

To learn more about the flooded 2005 Glastonbury Festival, listen to today's episode of "This Day In Weather History."

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Thumbnail: Courtesy of Hilary Perkins/Wikipedia/CC-BY-SA-2.0