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Electric Picnic weather: revellers told to pack rain gear as CMAT's weekend set in doubt

Electric Picnic is underway at Stradbally with thousands of festival-goers arriving. Weather expert Alan O’Reilly advises packing raincoats and sensible footwear for a mixed forecast, while CMAT cancelled a Paris gig due to illness, leaving her Saturday headline set uncertain.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 2 distinct · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 25–28, 2026 Published 5h ago

Festival opens under grey skies

Electric Picnic is getting underway at Stradbally, Co Laois, with tens of thousands of festival-goers descending on the site for the weekend. The festival marks its 21st birthday this year, with headliners including Lewis Capaldi, Sombre, Gorillaz, CMAT, Zara Larsson, Fontaines D.C, and Amble set to perform across the three days.

The campsites have been filling steadily, with the last of the roughly 80,000 attendees arriving this afternoon. Festival organisers said there was space left in just three of the eight campsites – Oscar Wilde, Tír na nÓg and Lír.

But the weather has already made its presence felt. Some 26.2mm of rain fell at Stradbally in the 24 hours to this morning, including 21mm since midnight. The heaviest downpour came in the early hours, with 13mm recorded around 2am.

Weather outlook: mixed and unsettled

Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather said there will be heavy rain later today, Tuesday, followed by showers on Wednesday and further heavy rain on Thursday. He is hopeful the worst of Thursday’s rain will clear before the early arrivals reach the festival site.

"I hope the worst of the rain showers will clear for the early arrivals here at Electric Picnic on Thursday," O’Reilly said.

Friday and Saturday are expected to bring a mixture of sunny spells and showers, with some dry periods but further rain possible. There is a risk of heavier showers on Sunday, although O’Reilly noted there remains uncertainty in the forecast for the final day.

O’Reilly advised festival-goers to pack accordingly. "Be sensible with your clothing choice," he said, recommending raincoats and sensible footwear. He also suggested warm clothing for nighttime, as temperatures are expected to drop significantly.

Met Éireann has forecast another spell of heavy rain tonight, with localised flooding and isolated thunderstorms possible. Saturday is also expected to be wet, with widespread rain through much of the day before conditions improve later. Conditions should improve somewhat this afternoon, with sunny spells developing alongside scattered showers, some of which could be heavy. Temperatures are expected to reach between 19C and 22C.

The music gets into full swing this evening, with Zara Larsson, Sombre, and Lewis Capaldi headlining the Main Stage. Gorillaz and CMAT are among the biggest names scheduled for Saturday, while Amble and Fontaines D.C. will close the festival on Sunday night.

CMAT's weekend set in doubt after Paris cancellation

Concern has emerged over one of Saturday’s biggest acts after CMAT cancelled a gig in Paris a day before her scheduled headline set at Electric Picnic. The singer pulled out of her appearance at Rock en Seine today after coming down with gastroenteritis.

"Hi everyone, I am very sorry to say we are no longer able to play our show at Rock en Seine today," CMAT said in a post on Instagram this morning. "I have gastroenteritis and was due to travel yesterday, but was not able. And I have not fully recovered to travel today."

She also cited travel disruption, with a flight carrying most of the band, crew and equipment cancelled last night due to a thunderstorm. "So unfortunately due to this double dose it’s not possible to play today. I am really sorry for anyone who was coming to see us," she said.

It is not yet known whether CMAT’s Electric Picnic performance on Saturday has been affected.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Irish Mirror as of Aug 25, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC

Framing: Our reading Highlights weather expert's advice and warning to festival attendees — Informative and cautiously advisory

Facts Included:

Electric Picnic festival is marking its 21st birthday at Stradbally, Co Laois.
Headliners include Lewis Capaldi, Sombre, Gorillaz, CMAT, Zara Larsson, Fontaines D.C, and Amble.
Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather said there will be heavy rain later today, followed by showers on Wednesday and further heavy rain on Thursday.
He is hopeful the worst of Thursday’s rain will clear before early arrivals reach the festival site.
Friday and Saturday are expected to bring a mixture of sunny spells and showers, with some dry periods but further rain possible.
There is a risk of heavier showers on Sunday, though Alan notes there remains uncertainty in the forecast.
Alan advises festival-goers to bring a raincoat and wear sensible footwear.

Read the source article →

The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC

Framing: Our reading CMAT cancels Paris gig due to illness a day before headline show at Electric Picnic — concerned

Facts Included:

CMAT cancelled a gig in Paris due to illness a day before headline show at Electric Picnic.
CMAT pulled out of her scheduled appearance at Rock en Seine today after coming down with gastroenteritis.
CMAT posted on Instagram this morning apologizing and explaining she had gastroenteritis and was due to travel yesterday but was not able, and had not fully recovered to travel today.
She said the band had also been hit by travel disruption, with a flight cancelled last night due to a thunderstorm.
It's not yet known if CMAT's Electric Picnic performance tomorrow has been affected.
Electric Picnic is getting underway in Stradbally today.
Tens of thousands of festival-goers are descending on Stradbally today.
Some 26.2mm of rain was recorded at Stradbally over the past 24 hours, including 21mm since midnight.
The heaviest downpour came in the early hours of this morning, with 13mm falling around 2am.
Conditions are expected to improve somewhat this afternoon, with sunny spells developing alongside scattered showers, some of which could be heavy.
Temperatures will reach between 19C and 22C.
Met Éireann has forecast another spell of heavy rain tonight, with localised flooding and isolated thunderstorms possible.
Saturday is also shaping up to be a wet one, with widespread rain expected through much of the day before conditions begin to improve later.
The campsites are continuing to fill this afternoon as the last of the roughly 80,000 festival-goers arrive and get set up for the weekend.
The last update from Electric Picnic came three hours ago, when festival organisers shared that there was space left in just three of the eight campsites at Stradbally – Oscar Wilde, Tír na nÓg and Lír.
The music gets into full swing this evening, with Zara Larsson, Sombr and Lewis Capaldi headlining the Main Stage tonight.
Gorillaz, and CMAT are among the biggest names scheduled for Saturday, while Amble and Fontaines DC will bring the festival to a close on Sunday night.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimElectric Picnic festival is celebrating its 21st birthday at Stradbally, Co Laois.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Irish Mirror as of Aug 25, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC
ClaimHeadliners at Electric Picnic include Lewis Capaldi, Sombre, Gorillaz, CMAT, Zara Larsson, Fontaines D.C, and Amble.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Irish Mirror as of Aug 25, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC
ClaimAlan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather said there will be heavy rain later today, followed by showers on Wednesday and further heavy rain on Thursday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Irish Mirror as of Aug 25, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC
ClaimAlan O’Reilly is hopeful the worst of Thursday’s rain will clear before early arrivals reach the festival site.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Irish Mirror as of Aug 25, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC
ClaimFriday and Saturday are expected to bring a mixture of sunny spells and showers, with some dry periods but further rain possible.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Irish Mirror as of Aug 25, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC
ClaimThere is a risk of heavier showers on Sunday, though Alan notes there remains uncertainty in the forecast.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Irish Mirror as of Aug 25, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC
ClaimAlan advises festival-goers to bring a raincoat and wear sensible footwear.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Irish Mirror as of Aug 25, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC
ClaimCMAT cancelled a gig in Paris due to illness a day before her headline show at Electric Picnic.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimCMAT pulled out of her scheduled appearance at Rock en Seine today after coming down with gastroenteritis.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimCMAT posted on Instagram this morning apologizing and explaining she had gastroenteritis and was due to travel yesterday but was not able, and had not fully recovered to travel today.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimThe band had been hit by travel disruption, with a flight cancelled last night due to a thunderstorm, according to CMAT.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimIt is not yet known if CMAT's Electric Picnic performance on Saturday has been affected.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimElectric Picnic is getting underway in Stradbally today.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC, Irish Mirror as of Aug 25, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC
ClaimTens of thousands of festival-goers are descending on Stradbally today.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimSome 26.2mm of rain fell at Stradbally in the 24 hours to this morning, including 21mm since midnight.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimThe heaviest downpour came around 2am with 13mm of rain.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimConditions are expected to improve this afternoon with sunny spells and scattered showers; temperatures will reach between 19C and 22C.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimMet Éireann forecast another spell of heavy rain tonight, with localised flooding and possible thunderstorms.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimSaturday is expected to be wet with widespread rain through much of the day before conditions improve later.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimThe roughly 80,000 festival-goers are arriving at Electric Picnic for the weekend.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimFestival organisers said there was space left in just three of the eight campsites at Stradbally – Oscar Wilde, Tír na nÓg and Lír.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimZara Larsson, Lewis Capaldi, and Sombre are headlining the Main Stage tonight at Electric Picnic.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimGorillaz and CMAT are among the biggest names scheduled for Saturday at Electric Picnic.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC
ClaimAmble and Fontaines DC will close Electric Picnic on Sunday night.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Journal as of Aug 28, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 2 distinct · 2 articles consulted: Irish Mirror, The Journal 24 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-28