England's Fire Services Dealt With 27,000 Fires In Forests, On Crop And Grasslands During 2025, Hottest Year On Record
Ten English fire services tackled a record number of grassland, woodland and crop fires during what was the UK’s hottest spring and summer on record, figures show. In total nearly 27,000 wildfires were dealt with by fire services in England during the prolonged dry weather of 2025, according to analysis by PA Media.
One fire chief said the summer was one of the most challenging that crews had ever faced and the frequency and intensity of the wildfires was putting a strain on resources. The figures, obtained through freedom of information requests, show that at least 12,454 grassland, woodland or crop fires were recorded by fire services in England in the three months from March to May 2025.
This is more than four times the 2,621 incidents logged by these services in the same period in 2024 and is the highest spring total for more than a decade.
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Spring was also the driest in the UK for more than 100 years and it was the combination of dry soils, little or no rain and above-average heat that sparked so many wildfires. The figures inevitably underestimate the true scale of the outbreaks, as full data was obtained from only 35 of the 43 mainland fire services in England.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/31/record-number-wildfires-2025-tackled-by-10-english-fire-services