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(Photo: London Fire Brigade<\/a>)<\/p>\n Wildfires have scorched more than 40,000 hectares of land so far this year across the UK \u2013 an area more than twice the size of the Scottish city of Glasgow.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This is already a record amount of land burned in a single year, far exceeding the previous high,\u00a0Global Wildfire Information System<\/a>\u00a0(GWIS) data shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is also almost four times the average area burned in wildfires by this stage of the year over 2012-24 \u2013 and 50% higher than the previous record amount burned by this time in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n The burned area overtook the previous annual record in April,\u00a0BBC News<\/a>\u00a0reported at the time, and has continued to soar in the months since.<\/p>\n Major wildfires\u00a0 <\/p>\n The chart below shows that UK wildfires in 2025 so far have already burned by far the largest area of land over any calendar year since GWIS records began in 2012. The previous record year was\u00a02019<\/a>, followed by\u00a02022<\/a>, while 2024 saw the lowest area size burned.\u00a0<\/p>\n Annual land area burned by wildfires across the UK from 2012 to 2025 (red), alongside the average area burned each year over 2012-24. Source:\u00a0Global Wildfire Information System<\/a>.<\/p>\n Climate change can\u00a0increase<\/a>\u00a0the risk and impact of\u00a0wildfires<\/a>. Warmer temperatures and drought can leave land parched and dry out vegetation, which helps fires spread more rapidly. Climate change\u00a0is making<\/a>\u00a0these types of extreme conditions more\u00a0likely<\/a>\u00a0to occur, as well as more\u00a0severe<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Fire services in England and Wales responded to 564 wildfires from January to June 2025 \u2013 an increase from 69 fires in the same period last year, the\u00a0National Fire Chiefs Council<\/a>\u00a0(NFCC) said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n Most wildfires in the UK are caused by human activity, whether accidental or deliberate, according to the NFCC. Some common ignition sources are disposable barbecues, lit cigarettes and campfires.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jessica Richter<\/a>, a research analyst at\u00a0Global Forest Watch<\/a>, says that, while fires are also a key part of some ecosystems, climate change is the \u201cmajor driver behind the increasing\u00a0fire activity<\/a>\u00a0around the globe\u201d. She tells Carbon Brief:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs we see more fires, we\u2019re going to see more carbon being\u00a0emitted<\/a>\u00a0and that\u2019s just going to be, for lack of a better phrasing, adding fuel to the fire.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Examples of 2025 wildfires around Galloway (1) and Inverness (2) in Scotland, and a wildfire in Powys (3) in Wales. Source:\u00a0FIRMS<\/a>,\u00a0MapTiler<\/a>,\u00a0OpenStreetMap<\/a>\u00a0contributors.<\/p>\n The UK has also recorded its highest-ever wildfire emissions this year, according to\u00a0Copernicus<\/a>, which was \u201cprimarily driven\u201d by major wildfires in Scotland from late June to early July.<\/p>\n These were the largest wildfires ever recorded in the country, reported the\u00a0Scotsman<\/a>. They \u201cravaged\u201d land in Moray and the Highlands in the north of the country, the newspaper added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scotland experienced an\u00a0extreme wildfire<\/a>\u00a0in Galloway Forest Park in April, which was \u201cso intense it could be seen from space\u201d, the\u00a0Financial Times<\/a>\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elsewhere, in April, the\u00a0Belfast News Letter<\/a>\u00a0reported that firefighters tackled almost 150 fires on the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n More recently,\u00a0BBC News<\/a>\u00a0reported that firefighters in Dorset, England received \u201cnon-stop\u201d wildfire calls in the first weekend of August, with one blaze \u201cengulf[ing] an area the size of 30 football pitches\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wildfires have also caused devastation across many parts of Europe in recent weeks \u2013 including\u00a0Albania<\/a>,\u00a0Cyprus<\/a>,\u00a0France<\/a>,\u00a0Greece<\/a>,\u00a0Spain<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Turkey<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 as well as in the\u00a0US<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Canada<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Authors:\u00a0Orla Dwyer,\u00a0Ho Woo Nam,\u00a0Tom Prater<\/strong><\/p>\n This article was originally published on Carbon Brief under the Creative Commons BY NC ND licence.\u00a0Read the\u00a0original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/uk-wildfires-article-1-scaled.jpg\")
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