Drivers experienced severe travel disruption on the M25 motorway on Friday due to a large field fire that produced thick smoke, significantly reducing visibility.
The blaze, which erupted on dry fields adjacent to the M25 between junctions 27 and 28 near Brentwood, Essex, quickly spread to cover 25 hectares of cut crops and the motorway's hedgerow. The incident occurred on the first day of the summer holidays, a period typically marked by heavy road traffic.
Essex Fire and Rescue Service crews were dispatched and extinguished the fire. A spokesman confirmed that firefighters left the scene with the farmer by 5:04 p.m. One lane of the M25 was temporarily closed as a result of the fire, contributing to extensive delays.
The incident highlights an elevated risk of wildfires across parts of Britain, exacerbated by a recent two-week heatwave and a month-long dry spell in some regions. Increased wind speeds earlier in the week further heightened concerns about the potential for fires to spread rapidly.
This disruption coincides with the start of the summer getaway period for schools in England and Wales. An estimated 3.8 million car journeys were anticipated for Saturday, with an additional 3.4 million planned over the subsequent three days. The Port of Dover also expected a high volume of traffic, with 7,000 cars forecast to pass through on Friday.
Met Office spokesman Graham Madge indicated that the current settled, warm weather conditions are expected to persist for another seven to ten days. While a slight dip in temperatures and isolated showers are possible over the weekend, the heatwave is forecast to continue beyond that period. The precise duration of these conditions into late July remains uncertain.
The country has already seen a number of wildfires. In one incident in York, two farm workers were credited with preventing a blaze from reaching a housing estate. Jay Loft, 22, and Cameron Bartram, 19, used tractors to create a firebreak in wheat fields, containing a fire suspected to have been started by a cigarette lighter, until emergency services arrived. That fire caused an estimated £30,000 in crop damage.