Overview
- Fire services logged at least 12,454 grassland, woodland and crop fires from March to May and a further 14,448 from June to August, far above 2024 levels and only below the extreme summer of 2022.
- The totals are an undercount because full monthly data came from 35 of England’s 43 mainland fire services, according to the Press Association’s requests.
- The Met Office reported the warmest spring and summer on record and the driest spring in more than a century, with a UK temperature peak of 35.8C recorded in Faversham on July 1.
- National Fire Chiefs Council leaders cite sustained strain on personnel, equipment and finances and call for urgent, long-term investment to bolster capacity and specialist wildfire capability.
- Ten services recorded their highest spring totals since comparable data began in 2011, with notable incidents including a major fire at Holt Heath in Dorset that burned 72 hectares and prompted evacuations.