Emergency services across the UK are stepping up Bonfire Night UK preparations as police and fire crews brace for disorder before 5 November. Scotland is under its largest policing operation since Donald Trump visited last year, while fireworks control zones are in place in parts of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Scotland and Glasgow
The Scotland operation will bring in public order vehicles and drivers from English and Welsh police forces under a mutual aid agreement. The extra resources are intended to deal with potential unrest linked to rumoured far-right protest activity, and Celtic's home Europa League match against Beşiktaş in Glasgow adds to the pressure on local policing.
Fireworks control zones in parts of Edinburgh and Glasgow ban the use of pyrotechnics. The crackdown is aimed at avoiding scenes from Bonfire Night in 2023, when dozens of police officers were injured.
Birmingham and Salford
The warning comes after trouble has already broken out in the run-up to 5 November. Seven people were arrested in Birmingham on Saturday after fireworks were set off in the city centre on Halloween, and the landlady of a Salford pub said it was surrounded by about 60 teenagers who shot fireworks at the building and harassed passersby.
Police in several towns and cities are using enhanced powers such as dispersal orders to tackle groups letting off fireworks in public places. A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesperson said, “Some people may feel more vulnerable to harassment and antisocial behaviour at this time of year.”
West Yorkshire and Liverpool
West Yorkshire is adding extra officers, with police there saying the period around 5 November is one of the busiest times of the year. Riot officers and police helicopters are routinely called to the Hyde Park area of Leeds each season to tackle disorder caused by people using fireworks as missiles, while 30 tonnes of illegal fireworks were seized in Bradford and Halifax before the Halloween and Bonfire Night period.
Fire services are also warning about the risks to crews. Last year, firefighters were attacked with fireworks while dealing with a blaze at a block of flats in Liverpool, and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government figures show 129 firefighters were injured in attacks in England in the year ending March 2025, up from 96 the previous year; 13 of those injuries were serious.
Phil Garrigan
Phil Garrigan, the National Fire Chiefs Council chair, said firefighters “put themselves on the line to protect others” and “should never face violence or abuse from the people they are there to help”. He added: “Firefighters are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends, neighbours and members of the communities they serve.”
He also said: “They return home to their families after every shift just like anyone else.” The Scottish fire and rescue service recorded 16 physical attacks on firefighters and 20 attacks on property and equipment in 2025-26, and the message from police and fire leaders is that the public should enjoy the season without crossing into antisocial behaviour.
