Yahoo News Firefighters put out huge blaze on Saddleworth Moor that was 'caused by days of dry weather'
Firefighters in West Yorkshire have put out a “terrible” fire on Saddleworth Moor – as Britain’s winter temperatures broke records.
An area of around 1.5 square kilometres was burning on the moorland after Britain saw its hottest winter day on record on Tuesday.
The fire near Marsden could be seen for miles around as crews from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service battled to contain it through the night.
By mid-morning on Wednesday the blaze appeared to be out, leaving a large black swathe across the moorland, next to the A62 cross-Pennine route.
Firefighters said the fire was highly unusual for February and a product of days of dry weather.
The smoke and flames could be seen for miles around as a kilometre-long front of flames spread across the hillside on Tuesday night.
Station Commander Tony Pearson, from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said moor fires in February were “very unusual but not unheard of”.
He said: “We’ve had a few dry days and it’s dried the land out a little bit.”
Witnesses described the “terrible” scene of fire coming close to buildings high on the moorland.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had five fire engines and two specialist moorland firefighting units at the scene.
They included engines from Marsden, Huddersfield and the Kirklees area.
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Incident Commander Laura Boocock told the BBC it was “one of the biggest grass fires (she) has ever seen”, but it was “nothing they can’t handle”.
Witness Harry Broughton tweeted: “Never seen anything like this – had a drive up as these things look terrible .. high up on the Pennines between #Saddleworth and #Marsden on the Manc/Yorks border, but close to houses including two pubs. Hope it is contained..”
The fire on Saddleworth came after firefighters had to tackle a large gorse fire on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.
Around 800 square metres of gorse was ablaze on the Salisbury Crags, with the flames visible across the city.
Crews were expected to bring under control the blazes on Arthur’s Seat and Saddleworth Moor, having extinguished flames in East Sussex’s Ashdown Forest, which was made famous by the Winnie-the-Pooh books.
Britain saw its hottest winter day on record on Tuesday when the mercury hit 21.2C (69.4F) in Kew Gardens, London.
The UK will continue to bask in “wall-to-wall sunshine” for one more day before the return of showers and milder weather ends the record-breaking period, according to forecasters.
Firefighters may welcome the showers that are predicted for much of the UK on Thursday, while those enjoying unseasonable sunbathing may not.
Met Office forecaster Dean Hall said temperatures as high as 20C (68F) could be recorded in London on Wednesday, with largely “wall-to-wall sunshine across the UK”.
He said: ”It’s going to feel pretty pleasant out there so certainly make the most of this exceptionally mild weather.”
But he added: “Today is going to be the last day of any warmth and dry, settled weather.”
Cloud is predicted to move in and bring with it rain across much of the UK, while Scotland may be spared.
Experts said climate change is heating up the whole weather system and making extremes more likely.
Mr Hall added that the impending downpours may “mitigate” the dry conditions faced by firefighters.
Wet and windy conditions are predicted for the weekend.
