Climate change increases the likelihood of floods and wildfires, placing major added burdens on firefighters and communities – illustrated in these images.
WILDFIRE
Blackstone Edge above Littleborough, Greater Manchester, at around midnight on 25 April 2020. Four pumps attended to protect a nearby farm. The moors of North West England have been a hotspot for wildfires in recent years. PICTURE: JOHN MITCHELL.
FLOODING
Flooding in West Sussex, December 2019. About one in six (5.2m) properties in England alone are at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea and 3.6m are at risk of surface water flooding. PICTURE: EDDIE HOWLAND.
DESTROYED
This fire on the Mourne mountains in Northern Ireland in April this year completely destroyed an area of outstanding natural beauty which will take years to recover. PICTURE: KELVIN BOYES/ PRESS EYE.
AIR SUPPORT
A firefighter wipes sweat from her brow at a major incident on Slieve Donard on 24 April this year in Newcastle, Northern Ireland. Firefighters were assisted by helicopters from the Irish Air Corps. The National Trust said the fire damaged more than 200 hectares (three quarters of a square mile) of land. PICTURE: CHARLES MCQUILLAN/ GETTY IMAGES.
SEVEN-DAYS
Swinley Forest fire in Berkshire in May 2011 affected hundreds of hectares. It took local crews and others from London, Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Buckinghamshire, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, West Midlands, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Worcester and Northamptonshire. seven days to extinguish. PICTURE: PA/ALAMY.
FLASH FLOOD
Flash flooding in Gowerton, Swansea, in January 2013. UK homes are now more likely to be flooded than burgled. PICTURE: JAMES DAVIES / ALAMY.
SO FAST
Flooding in Haworth, West Yorkshire, on Boxing Day 2015. In 2019 a local councillor for the area told Keighley News: ‘Every Boxing Day we look to the sky and think back to what happened in 2015. It all happened so fast.’ PICTURE: GROUGH.CO.UK/ALAMY.
RAF MOBILISED
Flooding in Doncaster in June 2007. A nearby village saw RAF Chinook helicopters mobilised to boost flood defences and search for missing people. PICTURE: PA/ALAMY.
