Fire warnings in Britain

The worst of the heatwave might be over, but the problems might not be over. 

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Respite from the heatwave but are floods on the way?

National Farmers' Union issues grass fires warning as hot weather continues

Daytrippers advised to take extra care not to trigger blazes through reckless behaviour as harvest time approaches

the Guardian,

20 July, 2013

Crops and heathland across Britain now face the threat of devastating fires as Britain continues to swelter in record-breaking heat. Farmers have urged travellers to take considerable care not to trigger blazes through carelessness over the next few days.

The Met Office said yesterday its forecast indicated the hot, sunny weather would continue for much of next week, further drying out woodlands and fields and maintaining conditions that have already triggered mountain blazes in the Welsh valleys and forest fires in Fife, Scotland. In London, firefighters have also tackled dozens of grass fires since Wednesday, including one at Mitcham Common on Thursday when flames burned through grass and gorse in an area the size of four football pitches.

As a result, holidaymakers and daytrippers have been warned by the National Farmers Union to avoid using barbecues near fields, to take care not to leave glass bottles that could focus the sun's rays and trigger blazes, and to avoid flicking cigarette butts from car windows. The danger of uncontrolled fire was becoming particularly high as harvest time approaches, it added.

The union also urged that people halt the practice of setting off Chinese lanterns – paper and wire hot air balloons fuelled by a naked flame – at parties and festivals. These can travel for dozens of miles from their release point and have already been linked to fires and deaths of farm animals.

"We have been warning for a long time about the dangers of Chinese lanterns," said Guy Gagen of the NFU. "But as the heatwave continues and fields get drier and drier, the danger will only increase." For their part, farmers have been urged to reduce the risk of combine harvesters catching fire by regularly cleaning the machinery to remove chaff and dust.

The dangers facing farms and heathland were also outlined by the Met Office, which said yesterday there was now an "elevated risk" of fires in the countryside following six consecutive days of 30C-plus temperatures and a dramatic reduction in the average monthly rainfall.

The heatwave is also believed to have caused up to 760 deaths already and the British Red Cross has launched two call centres in Norwich and Ipswich to check on the welfare of hundreds of vulnerable people in the region. In addition, police and fire chiefs have repeated warnings about swimming in open water after a number of deaths in recent weeks. Four people died in separate incidents on Tuesday in lakes, rivers and the sea in Norfolk, the Shropshire-north Wales border and Cornwall.

Elsewhere, a four-week-old baby was among 10 children admitted to one hospital with sunburn since the hot weather began. Six of the 10 patients needed specialist treatment after being referred to the Queen Victoria hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex, because of the severity of their burns. Nora Nugent, a consultant plastic surgeon at the hospital, urged parents to spend a few minutes applying sunscreen to children before they go out in the sun. "It could be the difference between a summer of fun and a summer spoilt by sunburn."However, the Environment Agency dismissed the prospects of a hosepipe ban in the near future. "Last year's exceptionally wet summer and autumn has left us in a fairly good water resources position, with most rivers, reservoirs and underground water stores around normal for the time of year," said Trevor Bishop, the agency's head of water resources