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54 patients treated by paramedics with 19 hospitalised after West Midlands wildfires
We just got an update from the West Midlands ambulance service.
A total of 54 patients have been treated by paramedics – including 19 who were taken to hospital – as a result of wildfires in the region, PA reported.
Key events
UK issues a temporary ban on disposable barbecues due to wildfires risk
Meanwhile, the UK government has issued a temporary ban on the sale of disposable barbecues as they pose a “significant risk to the public” due to the heatwave conditions, PA reported.
The new advice published on the Government’s website states:
“During the current drought and heatwave conditions, the government considers that the supply and subsequent foreseeable use of disposable barbecues poses a significant risk to the public, and the environment, and therefore cannot be considered a safe product.
They should not be made available for supply either in store or online at the current time.
These guidelines will be kept under review, and will be withdrawn in consultation with relevant departments and agencies, as weather conditions change sufficiently to significantly reduce the risks.”
Almost 500 arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires in France this summer
Jon Henley
Europe correspondent
Almost 500 people have been arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires in France since the start of the summer, authorities have said, as firefighters in half a dozen European countries tackle ferocious blazes amid a record-breaking heatwave.
With three out of five Europeans facing temperatures of at least 30C on Friday and about 150 million enduring 35C or more, France’s interior ministry said 474 people, including 183 minors, had been detained over wildfires in the country since 1 July.
About 70% of those arrested were suspected of deliberately starting fires and the rest of doing so accidentally, it said. French media said a 15-year-old boy had been detained in connection with a fire near Bordeaux airport that killed two firefighters in July.
Wildfires in Britain hit record levels after homes burn in intense heat
Wildfires in England and Wales have hit a record level, fire chiefs said on Friday, warning that rescue services were battling to keep up with rising risks a day after fires raced from tinder-dry fields to engulf houses on the hottest day of the year.
Britain has not faced anything like the devastation wrought across Spain, France and elsewhere in Europe this year, but as it endures its fifth heatwave of what is expected to be its hottest ever summer, it is dealing with more outbreaks of fire than ever before.
Phil Garrigan, chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council, told Reuters the number of wildfires had now exceeded last year’s total of 1,017.
“We’ve well surpassed the figures from the previous high of 2025,” Garrigan said, without detailing this year’s latest figure.
“We’re only in the middle of August, and the wildfire season seems to extend way into November at this moment in time. So, we’re anticipating this being not just a record-breaking year, but a considerable increase on the number of wildfires previously experienced.”
Six firefighters hospitalised from smoke inhalation in West Midlands fires
Six firefighters have been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion after battling the wildfires in the West Midlands, Staffordshire Fire Service said.
Glynn Luznyj, chief fire officer for the service, said:
Crews have been working tirelessly through the night and thankfully the Goldenhill, Parkhall, Tamworth and Cannock Chase fires are now under control.
It has been great to see people coming together to support each other. Crews have been provided with free food and refreshments and we’ve seen that people are coming forward to provide spare furniture and goods to those who have lost them to fires.
We’re working extremely hard to keep everyone safe, but we really need people to do their part to prevent these fires from happening in the first place.
The Met Office, the official weather agency, confirmed that 38.1C (100.6 F) was recorded in west London on Thursday, marking the hottest day of the year.
While temperatures cooled slightly on Friday, many parts of the country have seen little to no rain for weeks. This July has been the driest in England and Wales since records began in 1836.
West Midlands fire was like 'an inferno', witnesses say
We are getting some witness accounts of the fire in West Midlands, via PA news agency.
Andrew Reynolds, 42, told the Press Association:
“My mum’s lost everything. Absolutely everything. There’s nothing saveable.”
He described the scene on Thursday night as an “inferno” which destroyed the house his mother has lived in for 34 years.
Mr Reynolds said all his grandmother’s possessions were in the loft and will have been destroyed in the fire.
He said:
“(It was) stuff that she treasured that was going to be left to me.
No monetary value in it whatsoever, just the fact it was my nan’s and my nan was my whole world.
It’s all gone, including 100 years’ worth of photos from the family.”
He said the fire quickly “ripped through” the houses.
Tony Aldhouse, 62, who also lives on the street, said his garden looks like a “bomb had hit it”.
The fire service said there was a full evacuation of around 50 residents at the blaze at Gorleston Road, where a number of terraced houses have been damaged by the fire.
Meanwhile, French firefighters are still tackling a blaze in the Landes region, with more than 500 people evacuated as a precaution.
French media are reporting that the emergency response saw the first deployment of a new water-bombing helicopter Chinook CH-47D, on loan from Australia, which is capable of carrying twice as much water as a Canadair aircraft.
The machine can drop 11,300 litres of water, and refill within 90 seconds, it said, helping in effective response to any new wildfires.
Major fire in Croatian seaside town of Omiš leaves at least 36 injured - in pictures
We are getting some more pictures showing the dramatic scenes last night during a major wildfire near Omiš in Croatia (10:19, 11:25, 11:47).
And here is the scene this afternoon:
54 patients treated by paramedics with 19 hospitalised after West Midlands wildfires
We just got an update from the West Midlands ambulance service.
A total of 54 patients have been treated by paramedics – including 19 who were taken to hospital – as a result of wildfires in the region, PA reported.
Sicily's Catania airport remains closed until Saturday due to Mount Etna's volcanic activity
Meanwhile, flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Saturday because of ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing volcanic activity, which has forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled or rerouted over the past week, Reuters reported.
All arrivals at the island hub, Italy’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic, will be suspended through 2am local time on 15 August, airport operator SAC said in a statement.
The current disruption is the most severe to affect Catania airport in at least two decades, according to SAC sources quoted by Italian news agency ANSA.
Some 630 flights were diverted to other airports, and more than a third of the 1,974 flights scheduled at Catania were cancelled.
