Electric Picnic kicks off in smothered sunshine as thousands descend on Stradbally

The weather has held up quite well for the first day of Electric Picnic as more than 55,000 people are expected to descend on Stradbally for the annual music festival.

The three-day event has been eagerly anticipated throughout the summer by those who will be in attendance, and the crowds are expected to be just as high as other years at the Laois venue. Among the biggest acts playing on the opening day of the festival today are The XX, Interpol and Elbow, while the likes of Duran Duran, Phoenix and Chaka Khan will be some of the headline acts in the coming days.

The weather is promised to remain quite good for the rest of today and into tonight, but those at the festival will have to dig in during the afternoon on Saturday as a band of rain is set to make its way from the Atlantic coast towards the east and heavy and persistent showers will fall throughout the evening. It will pick up again on Sunday however, leading to a bright and humid day.

Gardaí have also revealed that they have heightened their security measures at the festival this year as they implement a security plan for 2017's biggest music event.