wennington fires uk
© Peter Macdiarmid/LNPThis pictures show how the dramatic fire in the village of Wennington engulfed a row of homes as the blaze spread from the grass
Wildfires broke out across the UK as families fled for their lives as their homes which they tried to save with buckets of water were engulfed amid blazes across the country in record 40.3C heat - and police are now probing whether some were caused intentionally.

Firefighters have described blazes tearing through homes and buildings in London as 'absolute hell' - with residents evacuated after homes were destroyed, two people taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, and 1,600 calls for assistance.

Elsewhere in the country hundreds of fire crews are out battling raging infernos in Wales, Scotland and the rest of England as 'tinderbox' dry conditions in the UK caused wildfires to threaten homes, animals and people and a children's nursery was destroyed along with most of a street in Yorkshire amid police fears some of the fires could have been deliberate.

Fire services in London, Hertfordshire, Bucks, South Yorkshire, Suffolk and Leicestershire declared major incidents as they were hit with tens of thousands of calls and 'significant fires' meaning automatic fire alarms will not prompt a response and people are asked to refrain from calling unless it's an emergency.

Officers and fire chiefs also think deliberate blazes were set on scrubland, trees, fields, rubbish, buildings on a residential street and at a nature reserve during the heatwave since Saturday.

Temperature records were shattered as sweltering Britons turned to beaches lakes and even fountains in Trafalgar Square in a desperate bid to cool off.

Heathrow was first to reach the 40C barrier - breaking the old record of 38.7C (102F) measured in Cambridge in 2019. But hottest of all yesterday was Coningsby in Lincolnshire, which recorded 40.3C (104.5F).

At least 34 parts of the country broke the UK's previous national record of 38.7C, the Met Office said stretching from West Yorkshire to Surrey. Staggeringly, meteorologists calculated that Britain was hotter than 98.9 per cent of the Earth's surface.

Scotland also recorded its hottest day ever as temperatures climbed to 34.8C (94.64) at Charterhall and Wales set its record yesterday of 37.1C in Hawarden, Flintshire.

But a band of thunderstorms moving across England and Wales from the Isles of Scilly spelt the end of the punishing temperatures for some.

And tomorrow, the weather will cool somewhat, with parts of eastern England under a yellow warning for more thundery showers yesterday afternoon with temperatures down over 10C on yesterday - although still in the high 20s.

The 'extreme heat' also led to almost 15,000 homes in the North East being left without power at about 2pm as electrical equipment overheated during the record temperatures.

Roads were also closed as fires broke out alongside major motorways including the M25 and M1. Emergency call centres were hit with tens of thousands of pleas for help.


Comment: Footage from the fire:



Ambulance services said they are under 'extreme pressure' from sunstroke patients with 999 and 111 handlers getting hundreds of calls an hour.

This is all while public transport was cancelled in much of the country with trains and London Underground services suspended as tracks continued to buckle and combust.

Greater Manchester Police said four fires were deliberate on moorland at Dovestone Reservoir near Oldham. Superintendent Phil Hutchinson said: 'This is being as arson which, following conviction, can result in a lengthy prison sentence.'


Comment: Climate alarmists strike again?


The UK is also being warned these temperatures could soon be the 'new normal' as Britain starts to see wildfires, extreme heat and pressure on the water supply which has long plagued Europe.

Families now homeless in Wennington, where the worst of the wildfires has been seen, were at first sent to a Premier Inn before that lost power and they were directed to go to Hornchurch Sport Centre to sleep on air mattresses as their 'worst nightmare' came true.


People were seen being carried out by police as a golf course in Twickenham caught fire in the latest wildfire which firefighters were called to at 7.23pm.

Two hectares of trees and undergrowth are alight, the London Fire Brigade confirmed while residents reported that they were evacuated from their homes.

MP Munira Wilson tweeted: 'Very concerned to see reports of big fire in Twickenham at the golf course near David Lloyd. My thanks to all those from [the fire service] working hard to bring it under control. Please stay away from the area.'

In one of the most dramatic incidents, at least eight houses were engulfed by flames in the village of Wennington, in the east London borough of Havering.

Dramatic aerial footage showed an entire row of semi-detached homes in grave peril, with almost half of them alight as apocalyptic plumes of smoke rose above the scene and rear gardens reduced to cinders.


Terrified residents were ordered out as 100 firefighters tried to halt a lethal wall of flame spreading from home to home, fanned by warm winds. One firefighter at the scene branded it 'absolute hell'.

Amid the scramble to evacuate, one woman said her uncle was trapped - and was 'digging a trench' around his house to thwart the flames. Police later rescued him.

With its Norman church, Wennington features in the Domesday Book, and it seemed an apt description last night amid the smouldering ruins of charred homes. Local councillor Susan Ospreay said: 'Wennington Village has been completely devastated by fire.' The inferno appears to have been sparked by a burning compost heap around 1pm in parched grassland adjacent to Wennington fire station - which meant firefighters were immediately on the scene.

But they fought in vain to stop it rapidly spreading on to tinder dry scrubland and incinerating back gardens. As homes were gutted, residents said they could hear the sound of panicked horses whinnying in a surrounding field.

Lorry driver Gary Rouel, 64, told how he raced back from work after a phone call from his wife Debbie, 64, saying: 'She just said, 'The house has gone up in flames.'

Mrs Rouel, a dinner lady, tried to round up the couple's three cats and their dog as firefighters ordered her to evacuate.

Mr Rouel said: 'It's terrible. I've just finished paying off the mortgage two months ago. It's heartbreaking. My wife has [the lung condition] COPD and the fireman was just telling her 'Get out, get out!'.'

The couple's son William, 33, who lives in Halstead, Essex said: 'My mum sent me a picture of the fire outside the home from the bathroom. She was still in there when it was coming up to the house.

'It started in the field, then came into the garden, then it was up to the decking and the conservatory. We think the neighbour's house has gone too. It's awful, I watched on TV as the house went up in flames.'

Distressed residents could be seen carrying buckets of water to the Lennards Arms pub where the community had gathered. Others were hurriedly removing gas canisters from the pub.

As the blaze drew nearer, police evacuated the building. Landlord Walter Martin, 60, said: 'I've never seen anything like it. It's awful. People are devastated.' Pensioner Lynn Sabberton said: 'The police came to our house and told us to get what we could.'

Brian Brazier, 75, added: 'The fire has burnt my stables out. It started as a little fire around the back of the houses and if someone had been there to put it out we wouldn't have had all this trouble.'

Resident Janet Hickey, 70, who has terminal pancreatic cancer, said she was forced to leave all her cancer drugs behind as they were evacuated. She said: 'I've got all my cancer drugs in the fridge.' As buildings surrounding the Grade II-listed medieval St Mary and St Peter's Church caught fire, vicar Rev Elise Peterson called for people to pray for the community.

The scorching heat smashed the previous British record of 38.7C (102F). Properties faced unprecedented threats on a day when millions of people were working from home. Boris Johnson paid tribute to firefighters and frontline workers keeping the country safe. Black smoke billowed across traffic on the A2 near Dartford, Kent, as bone dry heathland next to the busy route led to a series of fierce blazes.
dartford uk fire
© Luke Channigns/ CC BY/SWNSShocking pictures show a huge bush fire raging on the Dartford marshes, Kent on Tuesday
Flames up to 30ft high spread to create a half-mile-long sheet of fire The fires came within yards of Spirits Rest, a horse and animal sanctuary.

Owner Christine Bates, 63, said: 'I was just terrified for the animals. We got the horses into the back field, and local residents have now got chickens in their gardens and other people are looking after our kittens. The fire brigade were here so quickly and fought it back maybe four times - but it just kept springing up again.'

One blaze at Lickey Hills Country Park near Birmingham spread to 50,000 square metres and forced 15 people to flee their homes.

London's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted that the situation was 'critical' - but he was criticised for using the day's events as a way to promote his controversial car control measures, the ULEZ low-emission zone.


Comment: A good politician never misses an opportunity right?


In Yorkshire this evening, six houses were reported to be on fire in Barnsley. In Skellow, near Doncaster, grass fires came within feet of homes, while in Manchester, actress Faye McKeever - who appeared in the Sky 1 sitcom Trollied - tweeted a photo of her back garden fence ablaze.

In Charlwood, Surrey, beat the previous all-time UK high of 38.7C (101.7F) in Cambridge in July 2019. In third place is 38.5C (101.3F) in Kent in August 2003, and 38.1C (100.6F) in Suffolk yesterday is fourth.

Readers can find the full article here.