'We have never seen anything like this summer': How wildfire threat in UK is escalating dramatically

Wildfires are spreading over larger areas, burning for longer and drawing closer to homes, according to analysis of this year's fires by Sky News' Data and Forensics team.

The Fire Brigades Union told Sky News that recent investment in firefighting resources was "a drop in the ocean" compared with what is needed to deal with growing threats from wildfires.

Tinderbox dry land from extreme heat and droughts has created conditions susceptible to wildfires and driven the worst fire season on record in England and Wales this year.

Our analysis of data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) shows nearly one in five large wildfires (19%) in England and Wales came within 500m of built-up areas in 2026. This is based on analysis of fires of 30 or more hectares - the size of around 42 football pitches.

These fires also raged for longer in 2026 than previous years, with 17% observable by satellite for more than three days, up from just 1% in 2025. And 15% of large fires burned an area of at least 500 hectares, a rate three times higher than last year.

Recent analysis by Ordnance Survey found that 1.8 million homes in Britain sit on urban-rural boundaries, for example facing open countryside, leaving them exposed to increasing risk from wildfires which are no longer confined to remote areas.

"We are increasingly seeing wildfires affecting areas where homes, businesses and infrastructure meet the countryside," a spokesperson for the National Fire Chiefs Council told Sky News.

"That creates a much greater risk to communities and makes incidents more complex and resource-intensive for fire and rescue services to tackle."

How a relatively small wildfire destroyed homes in Stourbridge

Fire services have been stretched to breaking point dealing with fires that have reached homes.

On 13 August, the UK had the hottest day to date in 2026, reaching 38.1C. The same day just before 1.30pm, a fire broke out in Stourbridge, Dudley. It was nowhere near one of the largest fires of the year, but had a devastating impact due to the proximity of residential areas.

Around 100 firefighters were deployed as the flames crossed roads and reached nearby houses, forcing residents to leave their homes.

West Midlands Fire chief Simon Tuhill said: "The fire spread rapidly and has affected 38 domestic properties. Of these, sadly, 19 have been fully destroyed and a further 18 have sustained damage."

Sky News Data and Forensics team verified the destroyed houses using satellite imagery and available video footage.

Satellite imagery from Stourbridge shows the devastation of the fire. The first image was taken at 12.48pm, just over 40 minutes before the fire broke out.

The second image taken one day later, shows burnt fields that back on to residential areas. The affected area appears to cover around 247 acres.

Many residents were left without homes.

Sandy Shiralkar, whose house was affected by the fire, told Sky News: "I was putting a very brave face on, but inside I was completely broken."

She spoke about the impact the fire had on her house, saying: "There is nothing inside, no floorboards, everything has collapsed."

Fire service forced to 'pick and choose' where to go

Fire and rescue services across the UK have undergone significant cuts over the last 15 years, with the number of firefighters decreasing by 20% from 2010 to 2025, from 59,000 to 47,000.

The largest fall was in West Yorkshire, where firefighter numbers have fallen by over a third, but every single fire and rescue service has experienced a decrease.

These cuts, which have happened alongside a decrease in the number of fire stations and fire engines, have left fire services poorly equipped to deal with escalating wildfire demand, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union Steve Wright told Sky News.

"It makes firefighters less safe, it makes the public less safe," Mr Wright, who has been an operational firefighter for 25 years, said.

"The scale of wildfires that we've seen has meant that staff working in our control rooms have had to pick and choose what incidents they send firefighters to because there's just not been enough of us."

The government has increased funding for English fire authorities in 2026, guaranteeing standalone services at least a 3.8% increase in core funding. In June, it also announced specialist wildfire teams based in five areas and a £97m programme to upgrade National Resilience vehicles and equipment used for major emergencies including wildfires.

This is, however, a "drop in the ocean", Mr Wright said, with dedicated wildfire teams covering only a fraction of the UK's 49 fire authority areas.

Specialist equipment is needed and helpful in specific cases, but not the only important factor for preparedness.

"Air capability would have been useless in Stourbridge where 19 homes burned down. That's when you need fire engines and firefighters to be able to deal with those types of incidents," Mr Wright said.

Wales most impacted in the UK

The National Fire Chiefs Council told Sky News that while the scale and severity of wildfires have been increasing for several years, "we have never seen anything quite like this summer".

"Fire and rescue services have responded to more than 1,100 wildfires across England and Wales," its spokesperson said.

"That goes considerably beyond last year's record total, and we still have weeks of the season still to go."

Sky News analysis of satellite data has found that more land has burned in England and Wales than in any previous year by the same point.

Wales has been the most impacted nation in the UK this year, with nearly 15,500 hectares burned in 2026 to date - larger than the total area of Cardiff. This was over half (57%) of the total of all land burned in the UK, and 13% more than by the same point last year, in what was at that time a record-breaking fire season.

A recent outbreak of fires in South Wales has stretched resources.

On 19 July, a very large wildfire broke out near Blaenavon in South Wales. It covered over 4,000 hectares of land and has been burning for over a month.

Satellite imagery from Blaenavon shows the scene before and after the fire. Break lines are created in fields to stop the fire from spreading, highlighted by the green box.

A major incident was declared after another wildfire broke out near Llangynidr mountain, Ebbw Vale, on 7 August. This fire covered 400 hectares of land. Both fires combined covered the equivalent to around 6,000 football pitches.

Many of these fires burned across moorland, but the impact was not confined to the countryside. On 12 August, a wildfire broke out near Hazelwood Road near Newbridge, destroying five houses.

Sky's Data and Forensics team has mapped wildfire incidents using NASA satellite data, official reports and video footage. In a 30-day period 19 wildfires broke out in South Wales. Many of these lasted several days, some re-igniting.

The fire at Llangynidr moor can be seen breaking out on satellite data from NASA. After five days, the fire had grown nearly six times larger.

Satellite imagery captured large plumes of smoke on 12 August, five days after the fire started.

During the worst period in mid August, military deployment was requested - MACA (Military Aid to the Civil Authorities). 100 soldiers were deployed, including the Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment and Royal Engineers, with the deployment subsequently increasing to around 200.

Sky News spoke to Chris Hadfield, area manager of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

He said: "Whilst I've been working for the fire rescue service, I've never experienced anything quite on this scale before.

"These [wildfires] are resource heavy, but they're also, you know, really difficult conditions. You look at the heat alone and the terrain we're working in, you know, it's been really difficult for our firefighters, and our partners have been working with us."

On 16 August, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service reported they were attending 14 concurrent wildfire incidents that day.

Many of these fires are suspected to be arson.

Sky News spoke to Craig Hope, National Resilience wildfire capability advisor.

"We don't really understand why, but we do have an arson problem," he said.

Of the 19 individual fires Sky News identified, at least five were publicly reported to be deliberate. Although the true number is suggested to be a lot higher.

Risk will keep getting worse

Dr Mark Hardiman, associate head of the School of Environment and Life Sciences at Portsmouth University, told Sky News the wildfire risk will continue to worsen.

"We've just been through a period in the south and other parts of the UK of very, very high danger of fire," he said.

"Over the next 40, 50 years, that risk is probably going to double."

As the last two summers have shown, wildfire seasons have already become more extreme. Since 2025, more land has burned (81,355 hectares) than in the entire previous five years combined (57,244 hectares).

Fire resilience expert Mr Hope said "if we don't get this right now, we will lose lots more properties and we will start to lose lives".

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

(c) Sky News 2026: 'We have never seen anything like this summer': How wildfire threat in UK is escalating dram