Increase in outdoor fires in Surrey leads to renewed warning
They added: "The wider campaign, running all summer, aims to highlight wildfire risks in open spaces and how simple actions can help keep Surrey prepared."Outdoor fires can start easily and spread quickly, and unfortunately, many are caused by barbecues that haven't been properly extinguished."A wildfire on Hankley Common in July is estimated to have destroyed 2.6 hectares of common land, the service said.Another at Valley Wood Place, near Chobham Common, damaged one hectare of land – roughly the size of two football pitches.Advice to the public offered by the service to prevent outdoor fires includes:Avoid burning garden waste or starting bonfiresDispose of cigarettes properlyLeave the area if you spot a fire and call 999.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
23 minutes ago
- BBC News
Power restored to all homes cut off by Storm Floris
The last of the homes in northern Scotland left without power due to Storm Floris have had their energy supplies gusts of up to 90mph caused widespread disruption on Monday, leading to cancelled trains, flights and road and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had restored power to almost 72,000 households, with about 950 still cut off on Wednesday. The firm said its repairs, hindered by fallen trees and considerable damage to overhead lines, had now been completed. SSEN said customers without power for more than 12 hours were entitled to £30 per person for every day off supply, to cover the cost of food and drink. Those eligible have been told to keep their receipts and claim costs back via the SSEN without power for more than 48 continuous hours are entitled to an initial payment of £85 and a further £45 for each continuous six-hour period that they did not have power payments are issued automatically as cheques. Those eligible do not need to make a claim or contact SSEN, the firm said. 'Exceptional' storm Andy Smith, SSEN distribution's director of customer operations for the north of Scotland, said: "Floris was an exceptional storm, which has called for an exceptional response from us. "One thousand people have been working hard to reconnect homes and support customers, while a huge volume of network reconstruction has been done in challenging conditions."He thanked customers for their "patience and understanding", adding: "Now supplies have been restored, I encourage those who lost power to take a look at the details of compensation that will be provided, and also to make a claim for reimbursement if they qualify."
Telegraph
23 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Smell plaguing Shropshire is coming from 2,500 miles away
The smell of smoke from Canada's wildfires has travelled 2,500 miles across the Atlantic to Shropshire. Residents in Herongate, a suburb of the market town of Shrewsbury, reported feeling their lungs tightening and having to close their windows to escape the smoke. Wildfires have been blazing across Canada, forcing evacuations from Vancouver Island on the Pacific Coast to Newfoundland in the North Atlantic. Over 17 million acres have already been burned this year during their wildfire season, with the armed forces and Coast Guard drafted in to battle the flames. Smoke has spread across almost the entire span of the Northern Hemisphere. Residents told The Shropshire Star: 'It smelt quite strong at about 11pm but I couldn't see anything in the area, no sign of drifting smoke or a bonfire or anything like that. 'I feel sorry for anyone with a lung condition, they would have suffered if they could taste that smell.' This year's devastation in Canada is significantly above the 25 year average, although it remains below the 2023 record when more than 45 million acres were destroyed. Nasa satellite imagery shows a trail of toxic carbon monoxide stretching from Canada over Western and Northern Europe, reaching as far as Russia. While unlikely to impact British air quality, this week 81 million Americans over 14 states were put under air quality alerts as smoke poured over the northern border. Residents reported hazy skies as far south as Texas. The Met Office confirmed that 'there's a high likelihood that Canadian wildfire smoke is over parts of the UK currently ', adding that light winds could have allowed particles to sink to ground level. This is not the first time the UK has smelled Canada's burning forests. Earlier this summer when wildfires raged over Canada, residents from four separate Doncaster suburbs reported being woken by a strong smell of burning and smoke despite no incidents being recorded by the local fire service. Earlier in Canada's 2025 wildfire season, air quality monitors reported drops in Italian, French, and Swiss cities, connecting the shifts to Canadian smoke. What causes wildfires Fires at the height of summer are usually caused by natural events like lightning strikes. However, firefighters from Ashcroft, British Columbia, reported last week that a wildfire just south of the town was sparked when an Osprey dropped a fish it had caught onto power lines. Changing climate and land use are increasing the severity and frequency of wildfires. The World Meteorological Organisation estimates that the number of global wildfires will rise by 50% by 2100. This summer has seen wildfires raging across much of Europe too, with France battling its worst blazes for 75 years, tearing through an area the size of Paris. A heatwave across the south of the continent has also sparked wildfires in Spain, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, causing widespread devastation.
Reuters
23 minutes ago
- Reuters
Greece fights wildfires amid gale-force winds
ATHENS, Aug 8 (Reuters) - A wildfire killed at least one person and burned houses and farmland in a town outside Athens on Friday as Greek firefighters struggled to contain a series of blazes at the start of what is forecast to be several days of gale-force winds. Eleven planes, 12 helicopters and 170 firefighters were deployed around Keratea, 30 kilometres southwest of the capital, and residents were called to evacuate, the fire brigade said. Much of the area has seen barely a drop of rain in months. Wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour fanned the fire, setting olive tree orchards alight. Images on local media showed houses engulfed in flames. Firefighters discovered the body of an elderly man in a burned-out structure in Keratea, Greek Fire Brigade Spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said during a briefing "The fire is advancing. In some places only aerial firefighting is being possible," Yiannis Schizas, a member of the Civil Protection in the area, told SKAI TV. "There is too much wind. It is becoming a mess," he said. High winds are expected through the weekend and beyond. In the touristy island of Kefalonia, in western Greece, a wildfire was out of control, burning forests and farm land, authorities and local media said. Greece and other Mediterranean countries are in an area dubbed "a wildfire hotspot" by scientists, with blazes common during hot and dry summers. These have become more destructive in recent years due to a fast-changing climate, prompting calls for a new approach. Parched southern France is currently facing its worst wildfire in decades.
