Torrents stymie Glastonbury fest

Britain’s Glastonbury festival, highlight of the United Kingdom’s summer rock scene, lived up to its reputation for mud and mayhem when torrential rains brought chaos to the opening Friday.

After days of relentless heat in Britain, the weather changed with a vengeance overnight. Thunderstorms lashed the festival, one of Europe’s largest open-air music events, causing a nearby river to break its banks and forcing organizers to postpone the first two performances.

Music fans, who had arrived earlier in the week wearing bikinis and shorts, were forced to don the familiar boots and waterproofs as rain turned the campsite -- a farm in southwestern England -- into a quagmire.

Forecasters expect the weather to improve over the weekend, however. The musical lineup for the three-day event includes the White Stripes, Coldplay, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison and Brian Wilson.