A weather expert has warned "the stakes have been raised" in terms of wildfire risk in the UK following the infernos in heatwave-scorched Europe.
The island of Rhodes has seen by far the worst of the recent fires with thousands of holidaymakers rescued in the biggest evacuation in Greek history.
Jim Dale, Senior Meteorological Consultant at British Weather Services, told the Daily Star wildfires will likely "continue from place to place" on the continent this summer and, although there is no risk to the UK right now, we will see them "occur more frequently in the future".
READ MORE: Hellish Rhodes inferno of '1,000C 20-foot flames and the stench of charred trees'
"I would suggest the threat will come on a periodic basis, not every year and not every place," he explained.
"But crucially, we need to have the right synoptic situation. By that I mean southerly airstream, dry weather lasting for some time, dry ground – much as you have in the Mediterranean."
The UK saw wildfires last year during the record-breaking 40C heatwave. For residents of Wennington in East London, July 19 2022 was a nightmarish day when 17 homes burned down – luckily nobody was killed.
Mr Dale identified "highly forested areas or heathland" as the areas most at risk going forward. Scotland, the North York Moors, and Wales were the areas he pinpointed where wildfires have occurred in the past, as well as the south-east of England "because they tend to get the hotter temperatures".
Mr Dale continued: "It really is a case of watch the space, watch the future.
"These things are going to occur a little more often than they have in the past simply because of the warming atmosphere, the warming land, the warming seas – that’s climate change for you.
"The stakes have been raised. They’re higher than they were previously.
"But I stress we have to get the right synoptic situation for that to happen, much as the Mediterranean has got now."
Mr Dale said the UK was approaching this "synoptic situation" in June this year, which was the warmest June we've ever had.
"If we’d have carried on with that you can bet your bottom dollar we would be in a wildfire situation in July," he said. "Luckily, we got rain this month instead."
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