Flooding causes Isle of Wight traffic chaos, Hackney Weekender might be wet, Cockermouth already wet!

Flooding is causing chaos for people heading to the Isle of Wight Festival this weekend after heavy rain led to access problems at Seaclose Park, Newport.  The Festival is being headlined by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Pearl Jam, Biffy Clyro, The Vaccines, Elbow and Bruce Springsteen, There has been traffic gridlock on the island with people forced to sleep in their cars overnight.The BBC reported that Police have been escorting motorists stuck in traffic to Newport Football Club where shelter and refreshments are being provided. About 65,000 festival-goers are expected to attend the three-day event. Traffic on many of the island's roads has been at a standstill throughout Thursday and into Friday and hundreds of motorists have been queuing for up to ten hours to access the site and have been left stranded in their vehicles.Weather forecasts are for showers, some heavy rain, blustery winds - and some sun! In London it looks like the big BBC Radio 1 Hackney Weekender (with 100,000 people attending over the weekend) with the likes of Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kasabian, Lana Del Ray, Jack White, Florence & The Machine, Ed Sheeran and Professor Green on Saturday and Sunday might escape the worst of the weather as forecasts have the weekend as slighly drier. Both the Isle of Wight and the BBC plumped for what would have been the 'Glastonbury' weekend which became free as Michael Eavis decided to take one of his regular breaks to rest his land at Worthy Farm. Parts of Scotland and Northern England can expect up to 100mm of rain and there are now nine  flood alerts across the UK including the South West  in the wettest June since record began 230 years ago. The Met Office forecast a fourth wet weekend on the spin, warning of 'showers and longer periods of rain will affect many places,' with blustery winds as well,  forecasting showers followed by a band of rain on Saturday and a washout on Sunday on the North and South coasts, with the Midlands overcast.And fingers crossed for this weekend's Cockermouth Live! on 23rd September - part of the Cockermouth Midsummer Festival. Its absolutely tipping it down in Cumbria and the river Greta is in full spate,   but there is a host of talent on show tomorrow including  Gustobelly (1.30pm, Town Hall Courtyard), The Monster Celidh band (3pm, Kirkgate Centre),   Codex (1.30pm) and The Pulse (2.30pm, both Memorial Gardens Blast Stage) and our favourites Grip The Dog (2pm, Memorial Gardens Main Stage) followed by Black Wolf Run and Ultraviolet Fires. More at http://www.cockermouthfestival.org/cockermouth-live.htmlThe Isle of Wight Festival is a winner of the Outstanding Greener Festival Award in 2011 (and 2010), and the BBC's Radio 1 Big Weekend in Carlisle in 2011 received the Greener Festival Award in the "Improving" category. The Isle of Wight is also championing the 'Love Your Tent' campaign - please take tents home!