Brit festivalgoers forced to wear facemasks after 'people started turning green'

With the UK facing one of the driest summer spells in years, people attending major festivals were left completely covered in dust and even started 'turning green'.

Videos posted to the likes of TikTok showed festivalgoers at Bassfest, Maiden Voyage and Leeds Fest battling with the exceptionally dry conditions.

Some claimed they would be 'coughing up dust for weeks' with other attendees even left with brown and green faces due to the severity of the conditions.

It comes after England and Wales recorded the driest July on record in 2026, with Southern England seeing its lowest rainfall ever in a series from 1836.

This made for exceptionally dry conditions at major summer events in July and August, with the ground left completely parched and ticket-holders left battling with dust clouds and being forced to even wear face masks.

Many took to social media in recent weeks to complain of severe asthma and sore eyes, even comparing scenes to the set of movie Dune 3.

More than 27 million people across England have so far had their hosepipe use restricted in their area after months of hot and dry weather ravaging the country.

The remarkable conditions across the UK came after a summer marked by repeated heat records, which contributed to drought conditions affecting the whole of Wales and half of England.

One TikTok, taken from Maiden Voyage on 8 August described Burgess Park as the set of Dune 3. "The shower ran BLACK" one attendee commented afterwards, as another said: "I went to Burgess Park... and can confirm that place was dustier than the desert."

Meanwhile people claimed they had even 'turned green' after attending Bassfest, in Sheffield last month. "Absolutely MUGGED OFF by the dust," one post on TikTok read, showing a woman whose face had equally turned discoloured.

At All Points East in Victoria Park in London there were similar scenes. Another TikTok video titled: "They weren’t lying about the dust at all points east" showed a woman whose face had turned dark brown due to the conditions.

"My lungs still hurt from the dust," one user commented, as another attendee posted: "I swear I’m still coughing dust."

A third commented: "My face was exactly the same! and my arms legs hands, feet! toes ! even though I had socks and trainers on."

And at Boomtown last weekend, held annually at the Matterley Estate, at South Downs National Park, there were similar scenes.

Attendees shared pictures of them wearing balaclavas and face masks and scarves to combat the dusty scenes.

"The Boomtown dust is real!!" one video was captioned. "Make sure you wear your face coverings. I'm severely asthmatic and struggling already."

Another video titled 'Kicked up a right storm' also showed scenes at Boomtown, with the area completely covered by a cloud of thick dust as the south again basked in soaring temperatures.

Musician and 'Club to your Arms' hitmaker Rose Gray also shared a photo to her Instagram on the decks at Boomtown showed the equipment completely covered in dust, as she wrote: "I’m basically an archeologist at this point."

The dryness from the weather conditions that have long sizzled the UK don't just create risk of wildfires and prompt major drought and hosepipe bans, but have left festival sites covered in dust.

Although conditions are now due to change for many. It's expected that parts of the UK could have flooding this week, with heavy rain forecast to hit hard, drought-stricken land.

Some areas will have the 'first meaningful rain for a long time', the Met Office said, after weeks of heatwaves and dry weather have left many areas facing water shortages.

A rainy front will begin to sweep down from Northern Ireland and Scotland towards the south of England and Wales on Monday, kicking off a wetter week with cooler conditions that are much closer to average for the time of year, the Met Office said.

Meanwhile, heavy showers are expected to hit the UK on Thursday, missing some areas but bringing the chance of surface flooding in places where rainfall is particularly intense, it added.