Hot temperatures and dry weather has resulted in several UK wildfire records being broken this spring.
The Met Office reported hot dry weather with unusually sunny days this March and early April. As a result, the area of the UK burnt by wildfires by before the end of April was higher than the total for any year in more than a decade.
As a result, the seven days from 2–8 April saw over 18,000 ha (44,000 acres) burned: the highest weekly total on record. This included wildfires in Galloway Forest Park, south west Scotland; mid-Wales near Aberystwyth; and the islands of Bute, Skye and Arran.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency reported that around a third of Slieve Beagh, a special area of conservation, was damaged due to a wildfire this May.
By 3 June 2025, the Global Wildfire Information System had estimated that 99 wildfires had together burned over 33,000 hectares This was the largest burnt area in the UK in any year since 2012, when the service’s monitoring began.
Resource intensive wildfires put a strain on the entire service. The FBU is calling for national standards in resourcing and crewing to keep firefighters and the public safe from the climate crisis.
