Wildfires have erupted across Britain as bone-dry conditions and soaring temperatures create tinderbox conditions, forcing families to flee for their lives.
New Forest blaze traps families
In the New Forest, Hampshire, a massive fire destroyed an area equivalent to 100 rugby pitches of rare heathland, described as 'rarer than the rain forest'. Families were trapped for five hours as flames tore through the countryside.
Some were told to leave their vehicles 'if they want to stay alive' before police removed part of the central reservation so they could escape the blaze.
Families describe terrifying escape
Mum Lindsey Legg, travelling from Heathrow to Bournemouth with her husband and three children, said they had to abandon their car as flames came right next to them. "We could see all the flames through the trees right next to the car. We ended up having to abandon the car and going over the central reservation towards the other side of the road," she said.
Robert Green said the fire was 4-500 yards in front of them: "People abandoned cars, running away on the opposite carriageway carrying kids. Our side was trying to turn around and move back through the middle of the cars but it was chaos."
Fires across the country
Crews have also been fighting a moorland fire in Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, for three days, with smoke visible 70 miles away. In Nottinghamshire, a major incident was declared while 14 crews tackled two fires near Mansfield. In Peterborough, farmers helped firefighters battle a peatland nature reserve fire.
A fire at the closed Shiregreen Working Men's Club in Sheffield, which appeared in the 1997 film The Full Monty, is believed to have been started deliberately.
Drought and heatwave warnings
The National Drought Group met as water supplies come under pressure after less than 10mm of rain fell across England for the seventh consecutive week. Temperatures are set to soar to 36C again this week, with the Met Office's Fire Severity Index for Wednesday showing 'exceptional' fire risk in much of central and southern England.
The National Farmers Union has warned that continuing dry weather could lead to some food shortages.
Environmental devastation
Gillie Molland, lead ranger for the New Forest National Park Authority, said: "Globally heathland is more rare than rainforest and takes decades to develop - the New Forest has the most extensive area of lowland heath remaining in Europe. The loss of rare species and biodiversity is devastating and upsets the delicate ecological balance of the Forest, as well as reducing grazing land available for commoners' animals."
Forestry England said the area is home to "one of the last strongholds for the UK's native species," including sand lizards, adders, and rare ground-nesting birds like the Curlew, Nightjar, and Lapwings.
Water dangers and health alerts
An 18-year-old died after getting into difficulty at Camber Sands beach, East Sussex, and a 19-year-old died at Grasmere lake in the Lake District, bringing the number of open-water deaths this summer to more than 40.
Amber heat health alerts are in place for much of England from Tuesday August 11 to Friday August 14. Chessington World of Adventures had to close for the day due to a water outage, and Yorkshire Water issued a 'boil notice' for 100 homes in Dales villages after bacteria was found at Starbotton reservoir.
