WILDWATCH UK The fire & water brief — risk, cost and the politics of a drying country UK · Fire season 2026
A growing risk to homes, nature and the economy

Wildfires are no longer someone else’s problem

Hotter summers, drier moorland and longer droughts mean the UK now faces a real and growing wildfire threat. Fire is an ecological emergency, a financial one and a political one — but the most powerful tool in the response is something we control every single day: how we use our water.

By the numbers — 40.3°C, 47,879 ha burned in 2025, first hosepipe bans The stakes — land, livelihoods, reservoirs The lever — household water
Check your area What you can do
0×
more likely. Climate change made UK extreme heat 10× more likely — World Weather Attribution, 2022.
0°C
the first. Record UK temperature (Coningsby, 19 Jul 2022) — the summer that brought the first hosepipe bans.
0ha
burned in 2025. UK’s worst wildfire year on record — 181 fires >30 ha, a new record (EFFIS).
0L
per person, per day. Average UK water use (Ofwat) — the same resource fire crews draw on to protect us.
The story in five parts

Five ways wildfire touches every one of us

Start with the threat. Follow the money. End at the tap.
  1. 01 The Threat Why UK summers are becoming fire weather, how fast a spark travels, and who is most exposed. →
  2. 02 Ecological Damage Habitat, wildlife, soil, waterways and the peat carbon loop — what fire takes from the land. →
  3. 03 Financial Fallout Homes, farms, insurance, infrastructure and the public budget — who pays when it burns. →
  4. 04 Water & Hosepipe Bans Why water is how we fight fire — with a household calculator and a guide to the ban tiers. →
  5. 05 The Politics What the Burnham government, reservoir policy and the BBC coverage are doing about fire and water. →

When a fire starts, the crews need water — and they draw on the same supply as our taps. Every litre saved in a summer stays in the network that keeps us safe.

The core argument of this site — water responsibility is wildfire defence
Why this is urgent

Drought empties the system that fights fire

Drought empties reservoirs and rivers, and a household that wastes water weakens the very system that protects it. The evidence is stacking up: 2025 was the UK’s warmest and sunniest year on record (Met Office), 47,879 hectares burned — a new wildfire record; and in 2022, 25,000 fires were fought across England in a single summer. Dry low-humidity summers turn moorland and grassland into ready-made fuel; and the fires that do start are harder and costlier to fight every year.

  • Responsible water use is the most practical thing any of us can do to reduce the risk.
  • Hosepipe bans are the last line of defence — they arrive when the system is already strained.
  • Prevention is cheap; fighting a wildfire across dry moorland is not.
Start with the threat Calculate your water savings or go straight to what to do