UK MPs call for disposable barbecue bans and new firefighting aircraft after record year of wildfires

After a second record-breaking year of wildfires, MPs says the UK needs to get its act together before next spring, calling for new firefighting aircraft and fire warnings in weather forecasts

Fire and rescue services in England and Wales have so far this year already responded to more wildfires than the total for the whole of 2025, which was itself a record.

That’s according to a new report from the UK’s Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee, which suggested that there have been over 1,300 wildfires so far in 2026, with several of the fires being large-scale incidents.

The report established that throughout the course of the year, the military had to be deployed in South Wales, 19 homes were destroyed in Stourbridge, and thousands of hectares of National Park land were burned in the Cairngorms, Staffordshire and Suffolk.

According to the committee, this data shows just how unprepared the country is.

No firefighting planes of its own

One of the report’s more surprising findings is that the UK doesn’t actually have any dedicated firefighting aircraft. …….