Nepal UK
Picture: LFB
LONDON — The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has confirmed its busiest wildfire season since 2022, with a total of 117 wildfires recorded in the capital by the end of August. Of these, 83 occurred between June and August, a figure that exceeds the combined totals of the two previous summers.
The summer's most severe incident was a large grass fire in Dagenham on 14 July, which saw 20 fire engines and approximately 125 firefighters deployed at the height of the blaze.
The LFB has credited its swift containment of this fire to new equipment and pre-emptive measures, including the creation of fire breaks by the council.
The surge in blazes comes after the Met Office confirmed that summer 2025 was the UK's warmest on record, with a mean temperature of 16.10°C. This surpassed the previous record set in 2018. The LFB’s fire commissioner, Jonathan Smith, noted that climate change is creating hotter and drier conditions, which significantly increase the risk of wildfires spreading rapidly.
Researchers from Imperial College London have also warned that rising temperatures are creating new phenomena they have termed "firewaves," which could increasingly threaten urban areas.
To counter this growing threat, the LFB has been trialling new technology, including light, agile off-road wildfire response vehicles. These vehicles attended around 50 incidents this summer, allowing crews to access remote areas that standard fire engines cannot reach. The brigade also deployed new equipment such as specialist hoses and drones for real-time aerial mapping.
The LFB has also focused on prevention, urging the public to be cautious with disposable barbecues and cigarettes, noting that more than 80 deliberate fires in green spaces have been recorded since the start of June.
