UK heatwave: Most severe fire warning issued by Met Office as temperatures to soar

The Met Office has issued its top warning for fire severity as UK temperatures are set to soar in another heatwave following weeks of unusually dry weather.

Forecasters said there was a risk of “exceptional” fires in for southeastern pockets of England from Thursday, with more areas affected as the week goes on.

Most of the south, as well as parts of central and eastern England, are covered by the top warning on Saturday.

This alert system looks at how severe a fire could be if one were to break out and is not an assessment of the risk of a wildfire starting.

While some areas are covered by the “exceptional” alert, most of England has been issued with a “high” or “very high” severity risk throughout the week.

It comes as temperatures are set to soar in a fresh heatwave, which is expected to last longer than the bout of extreme heat in July.

The Met Office has issued an amber warning for extreme heat covering four days from Thursday to Sunday for parts of England and Wales as a new heatwave looms.

While temperatures will not scale the record-breaking highs of last month, when wildfires broke out across the UK, forecasters have predicted heat in the mid-30Cs by the end of the week.

The latest heatwave comes after months of low rain which has left the countryside and urban parks and gardens tinder-dry, increasing the risk of wildfires.

Households in some areas are being urged not to light fires or have barbecues to protect communities and landscapes from blazes.

Scientists warn that the likelihood of droughts occurring is becoming higher due to the climate crisis, driven by greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and other human activities.

Global warming is also making heatwaves more intense, frequent and likely - with research showing last month’s record temperatures would have been “virtually impossible” without it.

Dire services declared major incidents over the intense scale of demand when major fires erupted across the UK during the heatwave in July.