Wildfire risk rises to ‘extraordinary’ – as high as possible – as four-day amber warning kicks in | UK News
The risk of fire due to dry conditions over parts of England and Wales has been raised to “extraordinary” – the highest possible – as a four-day amber weather warning goes into effect.
The top of the Fire Severity Index applies to much of southern England and as far as Abergavenny in Wales to the west on Sunday.
The Met Office has issued an amber heat warning running from Thursday to Sunday, which could see temperatures peaking at 36 degrees Celsius across this entire stretch.
South East, Southern and Welsh Water have all the hose bans announced to customers in the area they serve.
And Thames Water has signaled that it will also introduce a ban in the coming weeks because the hot dry summer continues to cause.
Several buildings were engulfed by flames in Wennington, east London during one of the busiest periods on record for the capital’s fire service
There have also been repeated warnings about the impact on agriculture, rivers and wildlife.
Read more: What are the regulations on banning hoses, what are the exemptions and what do they mean?
Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna said: “The (fire) risk is very high across much of central, southern and eastern England.
“Going into Friday and into the weekend, it started to rise further, becoming the highest particular risk category.”
Please use Chrome browser for more accessible video player
The UK must brace itself for the next few sweltering days
Worst summer because of fires in three decades
Mark Hardingham, chairman of the National Fire Command Council, told The Telegraph he “couldn’t remember a summer like this” in his entire 32-year career.
“We’re not going to see the hot temperatures we saw three weeks ago, but that doesn’t matter because the ground can’t be drier than it is now,” he said.
There is also a Heat health warning from UK Health Security Agencywith experts advising people to pay attention to people who are older or have existing health conditions, as well as young children.
The latest analysis from the UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology has warned low or even exceptionally low river flows and groundwater levels are likely to continue for the next three months in southern England. and Wales.
A man stands in the Grafham watershed near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, where the water is receding
Rain reduction?
However, Mr. Petagna said that rain could come early next week.
“There are signs that we could have rain next week, but details are uncertain at the moment,” he said.
He added that the UK needed “a couple of weeks” of light rain to water the ground.
“What we really need is a couple of weeks of light rain to seep into the ground,” he said.
“Thunder is more likely to cause some flooding problems because the ground is hard, water can’t seep in.”
