The UK government has announced a temporary ban on disposable barbecues as wildfires continue to sweep across the country. The decision follows NASA satellite data that detected more than 580 wildfires in the UK within the last 48 hours.
Worst affected areas
The worst affected regions include Powys in South Wales, which has seen 166 fires, followed by Blaenau Gwent with 113 fires and Carmarthenshire with 101 fires. The West Midlands has also experienced significant blazes, with fires in Stourbridge forcing families to evacuate their homes.
NASA satellites detect fires by measuring their Fire Radiative Power in megawatts and brightness temperature in degrees Celsius. According to these measurements, the most intense fire of the last 48 hours occurred near Land’s End in Cornwall, reaching a radiative power of 157.26 megawatts. South Wales has recorded the hottest wildfires, with several in Powys and Carmarthenshire reaching flame temperatures of 93.8°C.
Government response and ban details
The temporary ban came into force on Friday, after disposable barbecues were identified as the source of multiple wildfires. Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that the ban applies to Wales, Scotland and England, but not Northern Ireland, and will remain in place “until further notice.” He also warned smokers to avoid lighting up outdoors and to dispose of cigarettes carefully.
Speaking while visiting houses in Stourbridge that had been destroyed by wildfire, Burnham said: “The temporary ban on barbecues, disposable barbecues, comes in today. All retailers will be receiving notification of that ban, and we ask them to, obviously, implement it in full until further notice when we can remove it.”
He added: “I would also want to say to the public, you can see what’s happening: 37 significant fires across England and Wales. Please do not light an open fire, a bonfire of any kind. If you’re disposing of a cigarette, take great care. This is obviously a really combustible situation, literally. We need to respect that fact and make sure that no-one is taking any risk, because you’re taking risks with other people’s homes, with other people’s lives if you act recklessly in this moment.”
Retailers and guidance
The Prime Minister urged retailers “big and small” to voluntarily withdraw all sales of disposable barbecues, and many major supermarkets have already done so following guidance from the British Retail Consortium and National Fire Chiefs Council. Government advice published by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade stated: “Disposable barbecues cannot be considered a safe product in the context of the ongoing weather and environmental conditions and must not be made available for sale either in store or online at the current time.”
More wildfires have struck England and Wales in 2026 so far than in the whole of 2025, with the latest blazes in the West Midlands leading to people fleeing their homes. The Prime Minister concluded: “Britain is a tinderbox right now, and please just have that in your mind.”
