As Britain braces for tropical storms, firefighters have warned that fire and rescue services may struggle to cope with the concurrent threats of hot weather, flash floods and grass fires.
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said:
“Firefighters in many parts of the UK have been doing a fantastic job over the past week dealing with hundreds of fires in parks, heathland and other open land.
“But recent, unprecedented cut backs have left fire services with smaller teams and fewer fire engines and stations, and public safety across the country will be threatened if hot temperatures and heavy rain create numerous large scale incidents – including flash floods and grassfires – in a short space of time.
“Local politicians and central government need to stop slashing our emergency fire and rescue service.”
