Uk Wildfires Beginning To Break Out

[weatherobsuk]

It was only a matter of time thanks to the consistent dry-spell vast amounts of places in the UK are currently experiencing. From Ireland, Wales, Pennines to Scotland are now seeing the result of sporadic wildfires beginning to break out. A few unfortunately as a result of mindless arsonists (i'll refrain myself from giving out my thoughts on these idiots), to the naturally occurring cyclic fires that have been vastly overdue. Especially in places as the Pennines and Ireland.

Unfortunately unless the UK gets a significant amount of rainfall over a long duration in the coming short period. I fear testing times for our Fire Services having to deal with these call-outs. I have a relative who is in the service, and back in mid March was predicting this outcome. in Buxton this year for example we had 166mm total rainfall in February. Compare that to just 13mm in March & April, that coming from dew readings. Absolutely nothing fell from the sky (believe it or not) between those two months, it really has been that desperate and dry for the environment here locally if not nationally.

[Marcus_surfer]

I am 100% sure we have only had about 5 or 6 days of rain since February. March and April have been very dry, warm and sunny. Amazing.

[Bottesford]

Yes the lack of rain is ever more noticeable with these fires going. And if you do any gardening the soil is just turning to dust now. But it isn't just us - I was in Germany in the Berlin area a few days ago and it's bone dry there too. We got completely covered in dust whilst walking past a farmer ploughing his fields at one point. It looks like the alot of northern Europe is currently very dry.

[Rob]

No rain here since 31st March, crazy! Just waiting for the hoepipe bans now.

[Summer Sun]

I only hope we don't pay for this sunny weather by getting a wet summer.

[Rob]

I only hope we don't pay for this sunny weather by getting a wet summer.

Same!

[Summer of 95]

We've had a few, probably 5 or 6 days since March 1st when I've seen it rain, but it was never more than light stuff that failed to wet the ground, even in a thunderstorm in one case. The ground is the driest I've seen it now since August 1995- grass is turning brown, and the river in town is very low. April didn't quite beat 2007 in my books (too much cloud on several days, it was only just sunnier than last year), but the dryness of March and April combined was impressive.

[Coast]

At Swinley Forest in Bracknell, Berkshire four fires have been raging since Monday evening. Roads in large areas of Bracknell have been closed and the fires are estimated to cover around 200 hectares. Wild fires have also broken out in the Scottish Highlands where 22 firefighters were battling a blaze near Shiel Bridge. A second fire was being fought at Torridon where a crew of nine have been working since Sunday to bring the flames under control.

In Northern Ireland fires have burned for much of the bank holiday weekend in Counties Down, Armagh and Tyrone as hundreds of acres of land have been scorched.

Video here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/8489740/Firefighters-tackle-wildfires.html

Fire crews are continuing to tackle four woodland fires in Berkshire. They were first called on Monday to two fires at Swinley Forest, near Ascot, but by the evening there were another two areas on fire. Roads in a large area of Bracknell and Crowthorne remain closed and some homes have been evacuated. People have been advised to keep windows shut. The fires are spread over an area of about 200 hectares (two square kilometres).

At least eight roads have been closed and 13 houses in the Brookers Row area have been evacuated and some schools have been closed. Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service said there were no current plans for any further evacuations. A spokesman said the woodland and undergrowth was "exceptionally dry" "Strong winds have fanned sparks and spread the flames very quickly, making the job of the crews much more difficult," he said.

Up to 150 firefighters from four counties, police, ambulance crews and a police helicopter have been at the scene on Monday and overnight. An earlier fire in Swinley Forest on Saturday evening was brought under control. However on Monday another two fires broke out, one east of Nine Mile Ride and the other west of the same road. By the evening another two fires had broken out nearby.

A police spokesperson said: "There are a number of road closures in place which are clearly marked and are there to ensure the safety of the public, as smoke is reducing visibility in places. "The smoke is not toxic but we are advising people in the area to stay indoors and close windows while the incident is being dealt with." Edgbarrow School, Wildmoor Heath school, Crowthorne C of E Primary School, all in Crowthorne, have closed for the day. Coral Reef water park and The Look Out discovery centre on Nine Mile Ride in Bracknell are also shut.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-13264201

[CroatianWeather]

Bad situation for you...maybe you who love sun and warmth are happy but this situation really may become serious...I keep thumbs up for some rain for you...

and I think it will be neyt weekend ,for 4-5 days...atlantic low will bring some rain showers and thunderstorms....

and I think May , overall will be pretty good,but not as warm and dry as April was !!!

Then in June I predict more atlantic lows reaching you and it coul last into July...so it won't be so bad summer like 2007 and 2008,I think,but it won't be so good like last one

Edited May 3, 2011 by CroatianWeather

[shuggee]

Yep - come the European Monsoon, we'll all be wondering where the sunshine has gone.

[Harve]

There was a wildfire on Sunday on Stanton Moor in the eastern Peak District, but I think it was rather minor compared to the Lancashire and Ireland.

[damianslaw]

There have been some reports of locally preety severe fires over parts of Cumbria particularly near Ravenglass. The Lake District doesn't tend to see quite as many fires as the Pennines due to less gorse and peat bog cover- the Pennines do suffer alot more in this respect. We also don't have the extensive moors apart from eastern parts.

It has been a notably dry period, but we have had many a drier spell. I think many people don't expect such dry periods until summer, whereas in fact statistically we are much more likely to see a lengthy dry period or drought between Feb - May than at any other time of year. Hopefully many places will see some useful rain over the weekend which should help to prevent any further fires.

The reason for the fires is the combination of very dry ground and very strong dry easterly winds which have helped to fan the flames. Thankfully winds are dying now in most places. Dry ground very warm conditions and strong dry winds can be a lethal combination we only have to look at what happened in Australia last year for evidence of this.

[Costa Del Fal]

GP's latest update in the In Depth Model thread is for plenty more warm and dry weather including June and July. Not guaranteed for sure but great news for many hopefully with regards to hopefully some proper summer weather this year. Bad news of course for people needing water which is basically everyone. Hopefully any warm patterns can allow a good dose of thundery weather thus some rain for some.

However essentially, really no sign of any proper Atlantic weather for some time.

[knocker]

The reason for the fires is the combination of very dry ground and very strong dry easterly winds which have helped to fan the flames. Thankfully winds are dying now in most places. Dry ground very warm conditions and strong dry winds can be a lethal combination we only have to look at what happened in Australia last year for evidence of this.

Things have been grim in Texas this year as well.

Since April 6, more than a million acres have burned throughout the state of Texas, according to the Texas Forest Service. This image, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite, shows conditions on April 15, 2011. Wind whipped both smoke and dust southeast across the state. The fires detected by MODIS are marked in red.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA

[Rustynailer]

Some of the fires are visible on this http://mrrs-ma.eo.esa.int/mrrs/images/2011/05/03/MER_FR__0PNPAM20110503_105942_000004783102_00109_47968_2322.N1_4DBFE426_image_0260.jpg

its a 9.9MB satellite picture from http://miravi.eo.esa.int/en/

A note or two about woodland and fires, as woodlands are my job.

Broadleaved woodland after two months drought is not usually dangerously flammable in the UK especially this early in the year,except where the understory has dried out and of a sufficiently combustible species like grasses with heather or gorse etc. But Conifer plantations are of course flammable by their very nature and dangerously so in some cases. Lots of broadleaved woodland was over planted with conifers in the last century in the UK or was indeed planted as mixed. This mixed woodland can be just as flammable as the pure coniferous sort, thick blankets of needles allow deep seated fires to burn/smolder along underground and spring up all over the place. Once the conifers themselves get going and there is any kind of breeze a conflagration is very quick in the making.

Believe it or not glass bottle magnification and cigarettes are the two main starters by accident, then there is always arson sadly.

Anyway best stay out of the way, I always say when it comes to forest fires.

Russ

[knocker]

Also the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Fires in N. Ireland and Scotland.

[Coast]

I wonder if Wills and Kate are watching proceedings on their honeymoon?

Firefighters have spent a fourth day tackling wild fires that have been burning across large parts of the Highlands since the holiday weekend. Crews were out on the Balmoral Estate yesterday where a large area of heather was burning, while the A82 was closed near Bridge of Orchy in Argyll due to a grass fire.

Several homes in Inverkirkaig in Assynt and Shiel Bridge in Kintail were evacuated on Monday night because of advancing flames. A major fire in Torridon in Wester Ross that broke out on Saturday was finally brought under control. Since Friday, Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service has dealt with more than 40 heath, moor and forest fires, involving more than 300 firefighters. Last night, the blaze at Inver-kirkaig was being fought on four fronts, including the Inverpolly Nature Reserve, and a helicopter was being brought in to water-bomb the area. Work on the fire at Shiel Bridge, which started on Sunday and flared up on Monday evening, was scaled back to one appliance on a watching brief.

The blaze at Torridon, which has been attended by 180 fire personnel, is also on a watching brief. That blaze destroyed about ten square miles of vegetation and led to the evacuation of a campsite, while six hillwalkers and a dog were airlifted to safety. A fire service spokesman said that, as the dry weather continued, there was an ongoing severe risk of further outbreaks. In Grampian, 148 firefighters have been involved in 24 incidents since midnight on Friday. Five of these have been barbecue-related and ten due to carelessly discarded smoking materials, while nine were started deliberately and one was controlled burning getting out of hand.

Five crews were brought in to tackle the blaze near Ballater on the Balmoral Estate, which at its peak had a front of 750 metres. Area manager Andy Coueslant paid tribute to those tackling the outbreak, saying: "Firefighters and Balmoral Estate staff had to walk into the area and the majority of firefighting effort was completely manual using hand-held firebeaters." The Rothiemurchas Estate, near Aviemore, said only the quick actions of staff had prevented two major fire "disasters" in areas of ancient forest. Countryside ranger Alph McGregor extinguished one fire started by campers for a barbecue on the banks of Loch An Eilein and helped head stalker Peter Ferguson put out a second blaze in an area of ancient native forest.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Wildfire-burns-swathes-of-Balmoral.6762100.jp

[Rustynailer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-13277087

Well I hope nobody gets killed because of some stupid brat with a match.

Mind if its done near the wrong area a good kicking always proceeds the polices arrival in some parts of the world. I saw two lads absolutely beaten bloody and senseless in Romania for setting fires, the police arrived and saved their lives. That was in 2005 whilst I was in Transylvania it was on local TV, my jaw dropped a lot at local TV b/w.

Its the same in Portugal I read of people in the local papers lynched for fire setting.

If people get killed it changes people believe me.

Edited May 4, 2011 by Rustynailer

[The PIT]

Fires going on still some set up by stupid teenagers. Looking like they maybe some rain this weekend which should dampen things down. Surprised they haven't been any round considering how dry it is.

[Upgrade]

i grew up in w yorks and there were always fire bugs around in dry summers, as well as accidental fires. it is always teenage boys being stupid who set blazes - nearly always happens in the shcool holidays - note that the forest fire in Bracknell was set 8 days ago when the kids were still off school.

they think it's a laugh, and then it gets out of control in seconds, it's frightening. people could be burnt to death if a large blaze took hold in a strong wind. the countryside is like a tinder box at the moment.

[Terminal Moraine]

It was only a matter of time thanks to the consistent dry-spell vast amounts of places in the UK are currently experiencing. From Ireland, Wales, Pennines to Scotland are now seeing the result of sporadic wildfires beginning to break out. A few unfortunately as a result of mindless arsonists (i'll refrain myself from giving out my thoughts on these idiots), to the naturally occurring cyclic fires that have been vastly overdue. Especially in places as the Pennines and Ireland.

Unfortunately unless the UK gets a significant amount of rainfall over a long duration in the coming short period. I fear testing times for our Fire Services having to deal with these call-outs. I have a relative who is in the service, and back in mid March was predicting this outcome. in Buxton this year for example we had 166mm total rainfall in February. Compare that to just 13mm in March & April, that coming from dew readings. Absolutely nothing fell from the sky (believe it or not) between those two months, it really has been that desperate and dry for the environment here locally if not nationally.

Whilst I agree with the general points in your post it's certainly not the case that 'nothing fell from the sky' in Buxton during March and April. Buxton recorded 16.4 mm of rain in March, falling on 8 days including 9.7 mm on the 30th and 3.1 mm on the 11th, as well as lesser falls all of which were rain, not dew. April recorded 15.4 mm with 7.9 mm on the 3rd and 6.6 mm on the 4th.

[AderynCoch]

There's been a peat fire not too far away from here (Ormskirk), though it looks like the firefighters have the situation under control. The only other wildfire in the area I can recall happened near Ainsdale in July 2006.

The grass is turning yellow again, like it did in May and June last year. I didn't think it had been that dry here, especially compared to some parts of the country (many places have recorded less than 10mm over the past two months).

[Neilsouth]

We had rain the other night as a weak shower dropped some thundery drops from france , grass isn't brown here

YET!