Starting on 24 June 2018 and continuing throughout the summer, a record-breaking series of wildfires burned across the United Kingdom. The two largest fires, which were declared major incidents, burned over each and broke out on Saddleworth Moor in Greater Manchester and Winter Hill in Lancashire. Other large fires broke out in Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland (640 acres), Epping Forest, in London and in the Vale of Rheidol in Ceredigion, Wales. The Saddleworth Moor fire has been described as the largest English wildfire in living memory. Most of the wildfires occurred during the first official heatwave in the United Kingdom since June 2017, with temperatures reaching above for several days, making the hottest June in the country since 1995, and the driest June for over ten years in large parts of the United Kingdom, exacerbating the crisis. A wildfire started on the Staffordshire Moorlands on 9 August and, despite rain, had spread to cover 219 acres by 11 August. Some hot spots were still burning as at 22 August. In total, there were 79 fires over the course of the year, a new record. However, the record was beaten in 2019 with 96 fires as of April 23.
Background
June 2018 was the driest on record for some parts of the UK, as a result of a persistent strong Azores High that blocked Atlantic low-pressure weather systems from reaching the British Isles and bringing rainfall. For much of the time, a strong anticlockwise wind circulation around Britain and Ireland caused a strong warm anticyclone there. As a result, in the lead-up to the outbreak of wildfires across the country, many areas were unusually dry. Drought conditions were reported in parts of the country by the end of the month, with NI Water introducing a hosepipe ban in Northern Ireland from 6 pm on 29 June, the first hosepipe ban in the area since 1995.
Towards the end of the month, prolonged high pressure moving in from southern Europe brought with it a prolonged period of high temperatures, marking the first official heat wave in the United Kingdom since June 2017. Temperatures of over were reported widely in all four nations of the United Kingdom for the first time since July 2013, with June 2018 becoming the warmest June month since 1995. On 26 June, a high of was recorded at Porthmadog in Gwynedd, Wales, making it the hottest day of the year so far for the United Kingdom. Porthmadog continued to break temperature records on subsequent days, reaching on 27 June and then on 28 June. By 6 July, the heatwave, which had lasted just over two weeks, was the longest in the United Kingdom since July 2013.
The drought conditions were exacerbated by May 2018 being the warmest since 2008 and the driest since 2011. It was especially dry in parts of Northern England, where rainfall was the lowest.
Fires
Member of Parliament Jonathan Reynolds, Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said ministers would “need to look seriously at our capacity to deal with these kinds of fires in future, including military capacity we might have lost in recent years”.
Saddleworth Moor
Fire first broke out on Saddleworth Moor, between Sheffield and Manchester, on 24 June 2018, but that fire was extinguished later that same day. But the next day, pockets of the fire re-ignited, perhaps from burning of peat which had dried out deep; this began to burn out of control from 26 June, and a major incident was declared that day. By 27 June, the moorland fire had grown to cover over and remained uncontained. Rapidly changing wind speed and direction helped the fire to spread quickly across the dry moorland and complicated efforts to fight the fire, which split into several fronts moving in different directions. Dry peat is also making fighting the fire difficult, as the fire can continue to smoulder underground after being extinguished at the surface, re-igniting the surface later.
After a major incident was declared on 26 June and with the fire rapidly approaching populated areas, around 150 people were evacuated from 50 homes close to the advancing fire, including 34 homes on Calico Crescent in Carrbrook, Stalybridge; it is thought to be the first time a wildfire has forced such an evacuation to take place in the United Kingdom. In the House of Commons on 26 June, Prime Minister Theresa May told MPs that the government was keeping the situation on Saddleworth Moor under "constant review" following the declaration of a major incident in response to the wildfires.
