NFCC warns of heightened wildfire risk and urges action amid rising pressures on Fire and Rescue Services

The growing risk of wildfires across the UK is putting pressure on fire and rescue services, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) is warning. This comes as the UK experiences above-average temperatures and below-average rainfall, elevating the threat of wildfires. England and Wales have experienced more wildfires so far this year than they did for the same period in 2022, which was a record year for wildfires.

Fire and rescue services remain on high readiness to respond to incidents across the country. However, services need to balance this increased demand with maintaining ‘business as usual’ response activities.

Fire and rescue services do not receive any dedicated or protected funding for wildfire response. The costs of preparing for and tackling the significant increase in wildfires must currently be absorbed through core budgets, which are already under strain.

National Resilience data shows that 286 wildfires have been recorded between 1 January and 4 April 2025 – more than 100 above the number recorded in the same period in 2022, a year that saw record-breaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfire activity.

The situation is being further compounded by a notably dry March – recorded as the sunniest ever in England – and warmer-than-average temperatures in April. This led to NFCC and fire and rescue services to warn of heightened wildfire risk across regions of the UK, it is expected that risks could rise further into May and June if dry conditions persist.

There are a number of challenges to addressing the risk of wildfires in the UK, including a lack of multi-year funding settlements that are hindering long-term investment and adaptation planning. Inconsistent definitions and recording of wildfires is also limiting the effectiveness of national risk forecasting. Wildfires are also placing an increased operational demand on fire and rescue services, without any proportional increase in resource.

National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Chair, Phil Garrigan, said:

“There is no getting away from the fact that climate change is driving increases in extreme weather events, such as wildfires. We are seeing more wildfires for this time of year than we were in 2022, which was a record year for wildfires and that is deeply concerning.

“Responding to wildfires requires a lot of resource, and often over long periods of time, which puts pressure on other fire and rescue service activities.

“Rising resilience threats mean there is an increased demand on fire and rescue services and that has to be met with long term and sustained investment. This is really crucial to ensuring we can continue to keep our communities safe.

“Wildfires are not a seasonal threat – they are becoming a persistent and growing risk to life, property, and the environment. We must adapt and invest now to ensure our services are equipped to meet this challenge.”

Last year, NFCC published a Wildfire Position Statement, making a number of recommendations to government. These include:

• Government should keep funding for national roles to support wildfire preparedness and response under review to ensure that national resources are sufficient and the wildfires portfolio is not under-resourced.
• Government should establish more consistent collection of quality data at a national level to enable better forecasting of emerging risks, and the predicted scale and impact of wildfires on communities. This should be underpinned by a consistent definition of wildfires (ideally the definition in NFCC Operational Guidance) that is shared across all Government departments and partner agencies.
• Government should improve joint-working across different departments to ensure that there is aligned strategic decision and policy-making on the prevention and management of wildfire risks across the UK.
• Government should place greater emphasis on the importance of land management across local, central and devolved government as well as statutory agencies in order to reduce the number and severity of wildfires resulting from improper land management.
• Government should work with the fire sector to ensure that requirements for specialist equipment and capabilities are clearly identified, and that there is appropriate funding available for key national resilience assets.

Earlier this week, NFCC urged the public to take extra care following Met Office forecasts which mean there is a heightened wildfire risk, reminding them of crucial public safety advice:

• Avoid using disposable barbecues in open countryside, parks, and moorland areas.

• Do not discard cigarettes, matches, or glass bottles, as they can ignite dry vegetation.

• Follow local authority guidance on fire risks and restrictions.

• If you notice any suspicious behaviour or see someone intentionally starting a fire, contact the Police immediately or report the information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. If there is a fire, call 999 immediately.

• Report any signs of fire immediately by calling 999 and asking for the Fire and Rescue Service.

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