UK news: parts of England and Wales are facing an “exceptional” wildfire risk while amber and yellow heat health alerts are in force from 12 July to 15 July. The warnings overlap with heatwave conditions across many parts of England and Wales, where temperatures remain high enough to strain health and social care services.
Natural England assessed a large part of southern England and pockets of the south Midlands at the highest risk level on Sunday. Many other areas in England and Wales were rated very high, while the UK Health Security Agency said its alerts run from 09:00 BST on 12 July to 21:00 on 15 July.
Natural England and UKHSA alerts
The UKHSA said the alerts mean significant impacts are likely across health and social care services because of the high temperatures. It said there could be a rise in deaths, particularly among people with health conditions or aged 65 and older. The amber alert applies to south-west England and the West Midlands until Wednesday evening, while a yellow alert covers the north-west of England, East Midlands, east of England, London and the south-east for the same period.
From Monday, England and Wales were expected to reach around 30-32C. Temperatures of 31-33C were possible in parts of south-east Wales and south-west England through Sunday, while areas close to North Sea coasts were forecast to have highs of around 18-21C on Sunday and Monday.
Fire risk across England and Wales
A wildfire was seen in Glossop, Derbyshire, on 25 June during an early-summer heat wave. Since then, three record-breaking heatwaves and a prolonged lack of rainfall have left many parts of England and Wales facing increasing wildfire risk. Hot and dry weather, stronger winds and lower humidity are expected to dry vegetation further over the next few days.
The same brisker wind that has dropped temperatures by a degree or two can also help any fire spread more rapidly and make it harder to contain. Current forecasts suggest exceptional wildfire danger could persist across East Anglia by Wednesday, before the risk is expected to ease slightly in the middle of next week as winds become lighter and the chance of showers increases.
East Anglia by Wednesday
For people in England and Wales, the immediate step is to treat the warnings as active through 15 July and to expect the highest fire danger where vegetation is already dry and winds are stronger. The most exposed areas are the large parts of southern England and the pockets of the south Midlands that Natural England placed at exceptional risk, with East Anglia still under that same risk level by Wednesday.
