With opening day threatening to be a washout, it seemed that the prospects for Wimbledon, in the grip of the June monsoon, could not get any gloomier. Then Andy Murray dropped out.

Britain’s only realistic hope of a home-grown player lifting a singles trophy said that he had suffered a wrist injury.

Up to an inch (25mm) of rain could fall on Wimbledon on the opening day. The forecast is part of a weather system that has left Glastonbury caked in mud and could cause chaos over the next fortnight to sporting and social events.

In cricket England is due to play the West Indies at the Oval on Thursday and Friday for the Twenty20 Cup. The Tour de France is due to leave London on July 7. The Henley Royal Regatta runs from July 4 to July 8 and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is scheduled for July 6 to July 8. In addition the Live Earth concert takes place at Wembley on July 7.

Flash floods and torrential rain are expected today across much of the country, and the Met Office has given warnings of downpours that could dump a month’s rain in a few hours.

It is forecast that more than 80mm will have fallen in 36 hours on parts of the Midlands, Wales and Northern England by the end of today.

Severe weather warnings were issued for all of England north of London and Bristol, and all of Wales except for the far southwest. More than 50 flood alerts were issued by the Environment Agency. Localised flooding was expected in many parts of Britain.

Chris Almond, a forecaster at the Met Office, said: “It’s certainly been quite wet and not really what we would like for June. But it’s not that unusual for the time of year. There will be heavy downpours at Wimbledon but it’s not going to be non-stop so they should get some play. For the rest of the week they will be on the courts more often than they are off.”

The country will continue to experience lower-than-average temperatures and showers this week. There is little sign that next week will be drier, though temperatures should rise.

The transition from June to July is often beset by heavy rainfall and has been blamed on the European monsoon. The heavy rain of the past few days has been caused by an Atlantic depression drawing in cooler air from Arctic regions.

For sporting and social gatherings the rain is seen as a natural hazard to be endured. A Wimbledon spokesman dismissed the idea that the tournament should be rescheduled. “It’s been at this time of year for over 100 years,” he said.

Organisers said that it had been 16 years since the first day was last washed out. Any attempt to change the dates of Wimbledon fortnight to later in the year would have knock-on effects for other sporting events.

Fans began pitching tents outside the grounds on Saturday in the hope of securing a Centre Court seat.

Jackie Sparrowham, a nurse from Essex, was back for her thirteenth year. She said: “My daughter thinks I’m mad. She said, ‘What do you want to go there sitting in the rain for?’ But you get used to it.”

With Wimbledon under deluge, something to keep you busy . . .

Tennis balls

50,000 used. Stored at 68F (20C).
New balls are used after first seven games (to allow for warm-up), then after every nine.
After use, balls are sold to clubs affiliated to Lawn Tennis Association and spectators at £2.50 for three. Proceeds go to Wimbledon Balls for Schools Scheme.
Yellow balls were introduced in 1986

Grounds

447,126 people attended the championships in 2006.

Approximately 6,000 tickets are available each day, which can change depending on weather and number of courts in play.

Capacity is 35,500 spectators.
Church Road site covers 13.5 acres, plus 42 acres of car parks.
Centre Court has 13,800 seats
No 1: 11,429
No 2: 2,220 (plus 770 standing)
Court 3: 800
Courts 6, 7: 250
Court 13: 1,541
Courts 14, 15, 16, 17: 318
Court 18: 788
Court 19: 305
Courts 4, 5, 8, 9, 10: no set capacity

Catering

Wimbledon is the largest annual sporting catering operation in Europe. On average the caterers FMC provide:
300,000 cups of tea and coffee
250,000 bottles of water
190,000 sandwiches
150,000 bath buns, scones, pasties and doughnuts
150,000 glasses of Pimm’s
135,000 ice creams
130,000 lunches
100,000 pints of draught beer and lager
60,000 Dutchees
40,000 chargrilled meals
30,000 meals for FMC staff
30,000 fish and chips
30,000 litres of milk
28,000 kilos (112,000 punnets) of English strawberries, usually grade I Kent strawberries
23,000 bananas
22,000 slices of pizza
20,000 frozen yoghurts
17,000 bottles of champagne
12,000 kilos of poached and smoked salmon.

More than two tons of strawberries are consumed daily during the fortnight with 7,000 litres of fresh cream Strawberries are picked the day before and arrive at Wimbledon at 5.30am

Grass

There are 22 grass practice courts in Aorangi Park and at Southlands College Centre Court: 110m long x 119m wide x 19m high Area of grass: 41m x 22m. All lines are 50mm wide, except base lines which are 100mm wide

Centre Court’s translucent cover, new in 1998, weighs 1 ton (wet and dry) and takes 16 people approx 30 seconds to cover the court.

Centre Court is under refurbishment. No roof in 2007. New fixed roof in 2008. Retractable roof added for 2009. Will also bring 1,200 more seats (lifting capacity to 15,000) and all seats will be replaced with wider versions

Royal Box

Contains 74 dark green Lloyd Loom wicker chairs. The Queen attended in 1957, 1962, 1977. Parapet at front is 2ft high, top of parapet is 12ft from court level.

Players

687 matches during the fortnight
Men’s singles: 128 places (inc 32 seeds, 16 qualifiers, 8 wild cards)
Ladies’ singles: 128 (including 32 seeds, 12 qualifiers, 8 wild cards)
Men’s and Ladies’ Doubles: 64 pairs
Mixed Doubles: 48 pairs

Foliage

Flowers: More than 50,000 plants supplied each year.
Grass: Court grass composed of 100% rye grass (changed from 70% rye/30% red fescue in September 2000 for less wear and tear).
Championships playing height is 8mm

Pest control

Hector the Hawk visits the club several times a year to ward off local pigeons, encouraging them to roost elsewhere. He also flies for one hour most mornings of the championships before the gates open.

Media

More than 5 million people logged onto the website wimbledon.org, viewing 180 million pages.

The large-screen television at the foot of the Aorangi Terrace by the side of Court 1 is 40 sq m in size. 3,137 media people accredited for the championships (692 press, 2,200 broadcast personnel, 235 photographers and photographic support staff).

Membership

There are four categories: full, life, honorary and temporary. Full and life membership limited to 375. All enjoy full privileges. honorary members, mostly past singles champions and others who have given special service to the sport, are elected by the committee.

About 120 temporary members also elected by the committee. Renewed annually. To become a member one must be proposed, seconded and supported by four existing full members, all of whom are required to write in support of the application.

About 1,000 are on the waiting list. Subscription and entrance fees are not published until candidate is offered a place.

Merchandise

The bestselling items in the Wimbledon Shop in 2006 were: 15,000 mini tennis ball keyrings
11,000 Men’s Championship towels
8,500 Ladies’ Championship towels
8,000 Twin wristbands
6,000 Slazenger mini balls

Officials

Chairman: Tim Phillips
Chief executive: Ian Ritchie
Referee: Andrew Jarrett
Chief of umpires: Les Maddock
Head groundsman: Eddie Seaward

Prizes

Men’s and Ladies’ singles champions: £700,000.
Total prize pool: £11,282,710

Racket-stringing

The stringing team worked round the clock in 2006 to string 1,700 rackets – 60 per cent of them for men They used 34 miles of string, roughly 65% hybrid (gut and synthetic), 20% gut and 10% synthetic gut.

The record for stringing a racket at the championships without compromising quality is 14 minutes