A major incident has been declared on the Suffolk coast after a large wildfire broke out, with dozens of firefighters deployed to bring it under control.
What happened at Dunwich Heath
The blaze broke out at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, shortly after 5.30pm on Wednesday. Footage shared by Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service showed an enormous plume of smoke billowing into the evening sky, an almost apocalyptic image against the setting sun.
A major incident was declared “due to the size and complexity” of the blaze, the service said, as flames spread southwest towards the nearby St James’ Church. Locals have been urged to avoid the area and keep windows and doors closed while around 90 firefighters work to bring it under control. Station manager Dan Davis described it as a “large-scale, wind-driven forestry fire.”
The drought that preceded it by hours
The fire broke out just hours after Suffolk joined half of England in being formally declared in drought. The affected areas now include East Anglia, Hertfordshire and all of London, Thames Valley, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Devon and Cornwall, the West Midlands, and Wessex, covering Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
The Environment Agency says high temperatures driven by recent heatwaves, combined with record-low rainfall, are behind it. There isn’t expected to be enough rain to reverse the drought’s impact until autumn, likely October, and hosepipe bans are already in place for 23 million customers.
‘Prepared for this new normal’
Temperatures climbed back into the mid-30s on Wednesday, and July is on track to be the driest month on record. The UK Health Security Agency issued an amber heat-health alert covering the East Midlands, East of England, all of London, and the South East, in place until 9am the following day before conditions begin to cool.
It was also confirmed on Wednesday that the country recorded its hottest June day ever last month, 38C in Lingwood, Norfolk, beating the previous high of 35.6C.
Water minister Emma Hardy said the UK needs to be “prepared for this new normal” as the climate changes and droughts become “increasingly common.” This is now the third drought in the past five years, following 2022 and 2025.
‘Absolutely devastating’ elsewhere too
Suffolk wasn’t the only place dealing with fire on Wednesday evening. Crews in Scotland were making “significant progress” against a blaze in the Cairngorms that first broke out two weeks earlier, while another large grass fire was underway in Romford.
Michael Humphreys, deputy assistant chief officer at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, told the Press Association the Cairngorms fire had been “absolutely devastating” for local wildlife, and warned the risk of further flare-ups remains high.
It comes amid even more severe wildfires across the Channel in France and Spain, where the head of the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre has warned that “all Europe” could be on fire within days if the flames there aren’t brought under control.
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