Climate change made severe UK fires in 2022 six times more likely - Met Office

New research shows that the damaging fires during the UK’s record-breaking 2022 heatwave were made at least six times more likely due to human-caused climate change.

That summer saw temperatures in this country hit 40°C for the first time and left firefighters stretched, with London Fire Brigade having its ‘busiest day since the Second World War’.

The study, involving the Met Office, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and University of Exeter, highlights how rising temperatures and drier conditions driven by climate change, are dramatically increasing the risk of extreme fire weather in the UK. England emerged as the most vulnerable UK nation in the paper, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

The researchers compared the present day climate to one without human influence through greenhouse gas emissions to understand the influence of climate change on fire weather. They looked at how changes in the weather affected the danger fires posed - how far they were likely to spread and intensify - once they were ignited.

A warning for the future

The study emphasises that climate change is not just a future concern but a present-day reality, with fire risks rising in tandem with global temperatures.

Lead author Dr Chantelle Burton from the Met Office said: “The 2022 heatwave wasn’t just record-breaking — it drastically increased the risk of fires, highlighting the growing danger climate change poses to the UK.”

Dr Burton added: “We found that the 2022 UK severe fires were made at least six times more likely due to human influence. With hotter, drier summers becoming the norm, fires are an emerging threat to the UK.”