Flaming June!
Giant blaze tears through moors as sizzling heatwave takes its toll on UK
IT looks more like a scene from California or the Australian Outback than England’s green and pleasant land.
But this wildfire was raging on Saddleworth Moor yesterday – and could be seen 15 miles away in Manchester.
The blaze, which began on Monday, roared its way across two square kilometres of the Peak District National Park, Derbyshire. Last night houses were being evacuated in Carrbrook, near Stalybridge in Manchester, and a school was set to be closed today as ash rained from the sky.
Police described the fire as the biggest in living memory as firefighters battled flames up to 20ft high.
Dee Blanchard, 28, said she could barely see due to the thick smoke outside her house. ‘I can literally hear the fire crackling,’ she said. The wind is coming downhill and it’s only about 200 metres away now.’ The fire blazed as Britain continued to sizzle in a heatwave that has seen temperatures soar to 86F (30C) – hotter than Athens and Rio de Janeiro, with 89F (32C) forecasted for later this week.
The Met Office issued a level two heatwave health alert, which is in place until tomorrow evening and said the boiling conditions will continue into July. Yesterday the temperature reached 86.3F (30.2C) at Hawarden Airport in North Wales – just topping the 86.1F (30.1C) recorded in London on Monday and making it the hottest day of the year so far.
While thousands flocked to beaches and parks to soak up the sunshine, the heatwave led to misery for commuters after sending the road and rail network into meltdown.
Commuters face a battle to get to work on time for the rest of the week, as rail providers imposed speed restrictions amid fears railway tracks will buckle in the sweltering conditions.
Network Rail said it has deployed ‘extreme weather action teams’ and passengers travelling through London's major transport hub at Waterloo have been warned they will face lengthy delays. Andy Thomas, the managing director of Network Rail, said: ‘On very sunny days, rails in direct sunshine can be as much as 20C above air temperature, causing the steel to expand markedly, and could – if not carefully monitored and action taken – buckle, causing travel disruption.’ The heatwave has also claimed two lives and forced schools to cancel sports days. Police warned families to resist the temptation of swimming in open water as a search continued for a boy of 13 feared to have died while swimming in a Staffordshire lake. A man in his thirties died after getting into difficulty while swimming at a lake near Merstham, Surrey, while a woman also drowned at Eastbourne beach in East Sussex. Elsewhere the Grange School in Runcorn, Cheshire, cancelled its sports day which was due to take place for those aged five to seven this afternoon due to the ‘extremely hot weather’. Temperatures will continue to rise above 86F (30C) in parts of the country today and tomorrow, soaring above the UK average for this time of year of 63.1F (17.3C). The heat is being caused by high pressure dragging up air from southern Europe. Met Office fore-
‘Misery for commuters’
caster Rachel West said: ‘Wednesday and Thursday will be very hot and sunny, we’re likely to see highs of 86.1F (31C) in parts of the country and there is a small chance we could see 32C.
On Friday temperatures tail off a bit in the north and east but it will still be very warm and the fine weather will continue on Saturday.’