Firemen fight for two hours to put out Welsh wildfire
Dramatic photographs showed firemen dwarfed by flames as they fought a large blaze in north Wales.
Eight acres of land in Rhosgadfan, Gwynedd, caught fire as two crews battled to try and put it out.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS) said the blaze lasted for two hours before they managed to successfully contain and extinguish it.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
The area of the UK affected by wildfires in 2025 has already surpassed that of any year on record. More than 29,200 hectares have been burnt, according to figures from the Global Wildfire Information System, which has recorded wildfires since 2012.
The previous high recorded was in 2019, when 28,100 hectares were singed.
Already 2025 has been a record year for wildfires in the UK
Following the hot weather last week, fire chiefs across the country warned of the increased risk of wildfires.
Last month, 120,000 square metres of a nature reserve in Calshot, Hampshire, were scorched in a blaze.
Two larger fires on Dorset heathland, which burnt out more than 126 acres, were ruled to be the result of 'human intervention'.
A blaze at Upton, near Poole, destroyed a nationally important heathland the size of 70 football pitches.
The animal death toll from the blaze included 139 slow worms, 11 common lizards, three sand lizards, 20 grass snakes, 10 adders, five smooth snakes, a mole, a newt and 10 bird nest eggs.
Twenty five snakes were killed in the recent wildfire in Dorset
The National Fire Chiefs Council has urged the Government to increase resilience as the number of wildfires rises, which they attributed to climate change.
An NWFRS spokesman said: 'We were called at 6.05pm on Monday 5th May to a fire in the open at Rhosgadfan, Gwynedd.
'Eight acres were involved, and two crews and two wildfire units attended to tackle the fire. The stop was received at 8.19pm.
'The cause of the fire is unknown.'
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Weekend weather update from FOX Weather: 65 million under severe weather threat Saturday
Welcome to the Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather. It's June 7, 2025. Start your day with everything you need to know about today's weather. You can also get a quick briefing of national, regional and local weather whenever you like with the FOX Weather Update podcast. The weekend is kicking off much like the work week has ended across much of the nation's heartland: with weather maps and radars dotted with clusters of strong thunderstorms and severe weather alerts. Saturday's severe weather threat covers around 65 million people across the southern Plains, Deep South and into the Southeast. Primary dangers include wind gusts of 60+ mph and very large to giant hail, but a few tornadoes are possible. A lightning strike hit a house in Southern California Tuesday, startling a mom and her two children who were standing just feet away. Tiffanie Buckner was recording the lightning as storms were rolling in, as she and her children were about to go inside, she told Storyful. Her 6-year-old daughter, Penelope, was standing in front of the camera the moment a large lightning bolt hit a home in the cul-de-sac behind her. A busy start to the hurricane season in the eastern Pacific Ocean got even busier Saturday morning as the National Hurricane Center has now added a third area to watch for possible tropical development. But in the short term, two clusters of thunderstorms are on the cusp of becoming the basin's next named storms, but which area of disturbed weather will take the name Barbara remains somewhat of an open question. Both thunderstorm clusters were designated as invests on Friday as they parallel or slowly drift away from the Mexican coastline. Here are a few more stories you might find interesting. Invasive species posing 'extreme threat' found near popular summer vacation spot With record-breaking snowmelt, is the western US at risk for wildfires like those in Canada? Rescue dog missing 36 days found swimming in waters off British island Need more weather? Check your local forecast plus 3D radar in the FOX Weather app. You can also watch FOX Weather wherever you go using the FOX Weather app, at or on your favorite streaming service. It's easy to share your weather photos and videos with us. Email them to weather@ or add the hashtag #FOXWeather to your post on your favorite social media article source: Weekend weather update from FOX Weather: 65 million under severe weather threat Saturday


Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Boston Globe
The man whose D-Day weather forecast saved the world
On June 6, 1944, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered more than 150,000 Allied troops to storm the beaches of Normandy in one of the largest seaborne invasions in history. But hours before, Eisenhower's eyes were fixed not on the battlefield, but on the skies. More precisely, on the weather report laid out before him. And the meteorologist who had created it, described by his son as 'a dour irascible Scot,' had to get it right. 'The weather forecast was a go or no-go,' said Catherine Ross, a library and archive manager at the Met Office, the weather service for the United Kingdom. 'Everything else was ready.' Advertisement Success demanded a very specific set of conditions: ▪ Before the landings, the weather needed to be calm for 48 hours. ▪ For the three days following, the wind needed to stay below Beaufort Force 4, equivalent to a moderate breeze. ▪ Parachutists and other air support needed less than 30 percent cloud cover below 8,000 feet, with a cloud base no lower than 2,500 feet and visibility of over 3 miles. Advertisement ▪ A low tide at dawn was needed to expose German defenses. ▪ The invasion had to occur one day before or four days after a full moon for nighttime operations. ▪ Furthermore, the invasion had to align with the Soviet summer offensive in the East, to maximize pressure on German forces. The Allies identified a window: between June 5 and June 7. The odds were daunting. According to Ross, the likelihood of all the desired weather conditions aligning was 13-to-1— and roughly triple that once the full moon was added to the equation. Making matters worse, the beginning of June brought a spell of highly unsettled weather. 'There was a succession of low pressures and fronts coming across the Channel, and the challenge was trying to find a gap,' she said. 'Not just to allow them to invade, but to be able to get enough backup troops and supplies across.' The fifth 'was the ideal day,' Eisenhower recalled in an interview 20 years later. But the date was subject to last-minute revision in the event of bad weather. The man tasked with delivering that all-important forecast was Stagg, the chief meteorological adviser to Eisenhower from the British Meteorological Office. He was responsible for producing a unified forecast based on input from three independent groups, two British and one American. With today's advanced forecasting, and the help of supercomputers, satellites, and a range of sophisticated models, meteorologists can produce fairly accurate predictions several days in advance. But there was no unified approach to forecasting in 1944. The American team, part of the newly formed US Strategic Air Forces based near Eisenhower's headquarters in southwest London, employed analog forecasting, a method that compared current conditions to historical weather patterns. The British teams relied on hand-drawn charts, observational data and, newer understandings of upper-atmosphere patterns. These approaches often clashed. Advertisement 'At the time, it was very much an evolving science that evolved in different ways in different countries,' said Dan Suri, a meteorologist at the Met Office. Suri said that some of these methods remain in use today, albeit digitally. 'Aspects of what they did still feature, and the D-Day forecasters would recognize aspects of what they did in what we do today,' he said. James Stagg's job was not just scientific, but diplomatic — a delicate act of balancing contrasting forecasts from the American and British teams, and shaping them into a coherent narrative with a single decisive recommendation for Eisenhower. 'That wasn't always entirely possible,' Suri said. 'He had quite a difficult job, really.' Ahead of the invasion, tensions rose between the forecasting teams. Transcripts from the daily telephone discussions among Stagg, the general, and the three forecasting teams revealed a strong difference of opinions among the groups. The American meteorologists believed that June 5 or 6 would offer suitable weather. The British, however, opposed June 5. 'He had to make the decision of which side he was going to go with,' Ross said, 'and take that to Eisenhower.' According to professor Julian Hunt in his book 'D-Day: The Role of the Met Office,' a high-pressure system over the Atlantic Ocean and a strong storm near northern Scotland were expected to cause rough seas and excessive cloud cover in the English Channel on June 5. James Stagg delivered his decision: Gales would sweep through Normandy, making landings impossible. 'He gave us the worst report you ever saw,' Eisenhower later recalled. Convoys that had already set off were ordered to turn back. Advertisement But by June 4, forecasts indicated that the storm system would shift northeast, giving way to a brief period of calmer conditions June 6. Still, Stagg was uncertain. His diary reveals his doubt: 'I am now getting rather stunned— it is all a nightmare.' Ross said the decision to go ahead was a compromise. 'It was a question of, will the sixth be good enough? And the call was, yes, it will be good enough. But it was a challenge.' Eventually, the American and British meteorologists moved toward consensus for June 6. On the evening of June 4, Stagg returned with the more optimistic forecast. Eisenhower later described a 'little grin on his face.' 'We hoped that with this break, we could do it,' Eisenhower later said. After a brief moment of contemplation—'about 45 seconds,' he recalled— he gave the order that would change the course of history: 'OK, we'll go.' The invasion went ahead June 6, 1944, but the forecast turned out to be off the mark. Suri said that, instead of moving northeast, the storm over northern Scotland shifted southward into the North Sea, weakening as it did. This unexpected change allowed winds to ease slightly, and visibility improved as the front over northern France moved away. 'That's why things got better,' Suri said. 'So they were right for the wrong reasons.' But conditions were windy, and the seas remained rough. Many of the first troops to cross the English Channel had 'considerable seasickness,' The Associated Press wrote, and the strong winds whipped up whitecaps, making the journey to the beaches even more punishing. Advertisement The marginal weather may have given the Allies a vital edge. In the aftermath of the invasion, as the weight of its success came into focus, the full significance of the meteorological gamble became clear. In a memorandum accompanying an official report to Eisenhower, Stagg reflected on just how close they had come to disaster. Had the invasion been postponed to the next suitable tides, the troops would have faced the Channel's worst storm in 20 years. 'Thanks,' Eisenhower wrote in response. 'And thank the Gods of war we went when we did.' This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Thunderstorms to bring more rain this weekend than all of May
Thunderstorms will bring more rainfall in six hours this weekend than England and Wales saw in the whole of May. The Met Office has warned that 'all areas' of Britain face torrential rain and thunder this weekend. Heavy showers would be accompanied by lightning and hail in some places, the forecaster added. Tom Morgan, a Met Office meteorologist, said 50mm of rain could fall within the space of six hours on Saturday. He said: 'That is more than what we have seen in the whole of the month of May. 'There will be some heavy downpours with thunder, lightning and hail. 'Most places are at risk of thunderstorms.' On average, England saw 33mm of rainfall in the whole of May. This was roughly half as much as usual, the forecaster said. Wales had 51mm of rainfall. Mr Morgan warned people to keep abreast of the forecasts as the weather was looking 'pretty changeable'. He said: 'There are a lot of outside events taking place this weekend. There is the potential for some disruption. 'We could see some flooding and surface water on the roads. Strong winds will mean temporary structures such as marquees could be vulnerable. 'It is welcome rain, really, for a lot of people, particularly farmers and gardeners.' On Friday night, a new weather front will bring rain and thunder for the weekend, but temperatures are set to rise next week to just above average for the time of year. Andrea Bishop, the Met Office spokesperson, said: 'The weather will be changeable for the rest of this week, with everyone likely to see some showers at some point. 'Generally, the theme is the continuation of something a bit cooler, a bit breezy at times, and a bit wet at times too. 'We are keeping an eye on a new front which looks like it will move in on Friday night, bringing rain which could be heavy, and possibly thundery at times on Saturday. 'Rainfall totals of 20-30mm are likely in places and at present, this looks like it will affect the southern half of the UK. We are keeping a close eye on this to see how it evolves over the next 24 hours or so.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.