Andy Burnham will chair an emergency Cobra meeting this afternoon as the UK faces an Extreme Heat Warning For Amber, wildfires and drought. He visited a community centre in Stevenage before the meeting and urged people not to use disposable barbecues outside.
Temperatures are forecast to reach 33C on Wednesday and up to 38C on Thursday. The government says firefighters, farmers and NHS staff are facing challenges linked to the weather, while parts of Britain are in drought and parts of the country face their fifth heatwave this summer.
Stevenage warning
Burnham said there is “obviously a significant problem of wildfires in the south” and added that “many of them have been created by disposable barbecues.” He said, “People should not be using those barbecues outside at this moment in time.”
He also said he wanted to leave the meeting with “a loud and clear message” that people should take “the greatest possible care” in the countryside. His comments point to the practical ask already being pushed out to the public: avoid disposable barbecues and treat the countryside as a fire-risk area.
No 10 response
A No 10 spokesperson said the prime minister will chair a meeting of COBR this afternoon on the UK’s response to extreme heat, wildfires and drought. The spokesperson said the government would continue action “to keep communities safe, protect water supplies and safeguard the environment.”
Ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and the Cabinet Office were expected to attend, along with representatives from the Met Office, the Environment Agency and the UK Health Security Agency. It will be the second Cobra meeting this year on heatwaves, after one in June.
Zack Polanski on Cobra
Zack Polanski said calling the emergency meeting was “only a first step.” Burnham also raised the idea of a possible ban on disposable barbecues, but he said, “I don’t know yet what the remedy is.” For readers, the immediate message is simple: the heat is not just a forecast, it is already shaping fire risk, and the meeting is aimed at deciding whether stronger controls follow.
