Charred remains of homes burned by ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires could be seen today as drought-hit Britain continued to bake in a heatwave after the fifth warmest day ever.
Six properties were destroyed as 100 firefighters fought the blaze near a golf course at Stourbridge in the West Midlands, which spread rapidly through dry grass and woodland yesterday afternoon – setting alight homes with residents forced to flee.
A train derailment in East Sussex on a Southern service near Lewes that saw 150 people evacuated and two seriously injured may also have been a result of the heat.
Extremely hot weather will continue in south-east England, East Anglia, Lincolnshire and the Midlands today with temperatures reaching between 29C and 34C.
East Midlands Railway issued an ‘essential travel only’ alert for the third day in a row; while c2c, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Railway axed some services.
The UK hit 38.1C at Kew Gardens in London yesterday, making it the warmest day of 2026 so far. Yesterday was also the ninth day of 2026 when temperatures hit at least 35C, the fourth day for 36C, and the third for 37C – all three being new records.
The heatwave is set to continue into this weekend with temperatures of up to 30C in southern England, before highs slip to around 27C to 28C by the start of next week.
A UK Health Security Agency amber heat health alert remains active for all of England until 9pm tonight, which warns of increased demand on health services and a ‘rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions’.
Officials urged people to take precautions such as staying hydrated, checking in on vulnerable friends and family, and staying out of the sun at the hottest part of the day.
Charred land and burnt houses this morning following the huge wildfire in Stourbridge
A fire engine stands near a burnt-out house this morning following the fire in Stourbridge
The blaze in Stourbridge forced some people to flee after it started tearing through homes
More than 100 firefighters were sent to Stourbridge after the fire started in nearby grassland
Two people were seriously injured following a train derailment in East Sussex yesterday
Rail bosses will investigate whether the steel tracks expanded in the heat and started to warp
Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and West Sussex have now gone 63 days without rain as the drought intensifies, with Surrey close behind on 58 days and London on 52 days.
Some 45million people in England are now in drought-stricken areas, and 27million customers are under hosepipe bans – with many areas desperate for downpours.
The Met Office said some thunderstorms could hit central and south-eastern England tonight, but there is no meaningful rain in the forecast for the most parched areas.
Forecasters are however watching an area of low pressure which could influence UK weather from the southwest towards the end of next week and potentially bring rain.
| 1 | 40.3C | July 19, 2022 | Coningsby, Lincolnshire |
| 2 | 38.7C | July 25, 2019 | Cambridge |
| 3 | 38.5C | August 10, 2003 | Faversham, Kent |
| 4 | 38.2C | July 18, 2022 | Pitsford, Northamptonshire |
| 5 | 38.1C | August 13, 2026 | Kew Gardens, London |
| 6 | 38.0C | June 26, 2026 | Lingwood, Norfolk |
| 7 | 37.8C | July 31, 2020 | London Heathrow |
| 8 | 37.1C | August 3, 1990 | Cheltenham, Gloucestershire |
| 9= | 36.7C | August 9, 1911 | Raunds, Northamptonshire |
| 9= | 36.7C | July 1, 2015 | London Heathrow |
| 9= | 36.7C | June 25, 2026 | Merryfield, Somerset |
| 12 | 36.6C | August 2, 1990 | Worcester |
Met Office chief forecaster Neil Armstrong said: ‘Friday will be a less hot day, with temperatures forecast to reach highs of 34C in the south-east.
‘Into the weekend temperatures could still hover over 30C in the south, with a gradual return to average over the next few days.’
Providing an outlook for rain, deputy chief forecaster Steven Keates said: ‘Many people are desperate for some rain to alleviate the impacts of the prolonged dry spell.
‘There is a chance of some thunderstorms developing in central and southeastern parts of England later on Friday into Saturday, however these are very uncertain.
‘A front moving south eastwards across the UK on Monday and Tuesday could bring northern areas some rain but amounts of rain in the south will be small at most and the majority will fall over Northern Ireland and Scotland.
‘The next meaningful rain forecast for these very dry areas could be towards the end of next week as an area of low pressure influences our weather from the southwest. The detail on this will become clearer over the coming days.’
It comes as a fire chief said crews were making progress tackling huge blazes in the West Midlands that led to thousands of 999 calls and caused ‘extensive’ devastation.
Chief fire officer Simon Tuhill, of West Midlands Fire Service, said one huge blaze in Stourbridge, which forced some people to flee after it started tearing through homes, was ‘one of the most significant’ incidents the region’s fire service has ever dealt with.
West Midlands Fire Service said this morning that crews were ‘making progress’ and ‘tactically working across several different areas of the site’.
Mr Tuhill was in touch with Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who released a statement to pay tribute to the firefighters on the ground battling the wildfires.
The Prime Minister said: ‘Awful to see homes and communities hit by fires across the country tonight as the heatwave continues.
‘My thoughts are with everyone affected, particularly those who have been injured or forced from their homes, and with the firefighters who have been taken to hospital.
‘I’m in touch with local leaders (including West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker) and will be speaking to emergency services on the ground as they continue their response.
‘Our firefighters are working in incredibly difficult conditions and putting themselves at risk to keep others safe. A huge thank you to them and everyone supporting the effort tonight.’
Mr Tuhill said that ‘the emergency service presence here will likely run into days’ and asked people to stay away from the area.
Nathan Hudson, from West Midlands Ambulance Service, said six people were treated by crews at the scene in the town, with two taken to hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation.
Mr Burnham has pledged to support fire and rescue services in the region with any additional resources they need, the county’s mayor Richard Parker told Sky News.
Angela Rayner, Secretary of State for housing, communities and local Government said: ‘We are working closely with the local Fire and Rescue Service and partners on the ground in Stourbridge and are being regularly updated.
‘I would like to thank the brave emergency services, and my thoughts are with people who have been forced to leave their homes.’
Speaking at the scene of the Stourbridge blaze, Mr Tuhill said more than 100 firefighters were sent to the scene, saying the fire is believed to have started in the grassland before spreading to homes nearby.
An investigation into how the fire in Stourbridge, West Midlands, started will now begin, the chief fire officer said.
‘Of course, we will carry out a joint investigation with police colleagues and our specialist fire investigation team,’ Mr Tuhill told a late-night press conference on Thursday.
‘They will be here on scene as soon as they can to start investigating the possible cause.’
Before the press conference, Mr Parker described the ‘multiple fires across our region’ as an ‘extremely worrying and fast-moving situation’.
In neighbouring Worcestershire, Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said a number of homes had been damaged and 30 properties were evacuated in Pershore following a large fire on Lancelott Court.
The fire service said one person was treated for smoke inhalation following the incident at about 4.30pm, and about 200 homes in the area were left without power.
In Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, another blaze hit ‘a small number of properties and gardens’ in the Goldenhill area of the city.
Severn Trent Water warned of disruption to water supply across the West Midlands as a result of the wildfires.
The company said customers in Kidsgrove, near Stoke-on-Trent, may experience lower pressure and discoloured water because firefighters needed to use hydrants.
An aerial view shows destroyed houses following the wildfire in Stourbridge yesterday
A firefighter sprays water on burnt-out area following the grass fire in Stourbridge yesterday
A view of a burnt-out house today following the grass fire at Stourbridge in the West Midlands
A view of a burnt-out house today following the grass fire at Stourbridge in the West Midlands
In Warwickshire, the county’s fire and rescue service said it was responding to a ‘large fire’ in Salford Priors, Stratford-upon-Avon, which has been declared a major incident.
Elsewhere in the region, smoke from nearby wildfires forced the closure of the M6 northbound between junctions five and six – causing more than two hours of delays.
Explaining the closure, National Highways West Midlands said in a statement: ‘The fire keeps igniting. Fire commander at the scene not happy for M6 to be reopened until fire fully extinguished.’
Wollaston and Stourbridge Town councillor Andrew Southall said care home residents were evacuated alongside others as a result of the fire near Stourbridge golf course.
Resident Phillip Jones, who lives close to where the fire in Stourbridge took hold, told Sky News: ‘It was quite hard to breathe, actually, when we left the car, getting to the home.’
He added: ‘We have the golf course and then the cricket club between us and the fire.
‘So, at the moment, we have grab bags by the door, ready to leave if we have to leave, but it hasn’t come to that yet, thankfully for us.’
Footage on social media showed multiple buildings on fire and huge plumes of smoke coming from a nearby field.
The fire service said flames were spreading ‘across roads in places’, with people urged to stay indoors.
A fire engine stands near a burnt-out house this morning following the fire in Stourbridge
An aerial view shows destroyed houses following the wildfire in Stourbridge yesterday
A view of a burnt-out house today following the grass fire at Stourbridge in the West Midlands
Firefighters examine the burnt-out area following the grass fire in Stourbridge yesterday
A fire engine stands near a burnt-out house this morning following the fire in Stourbridge
Drone footage published by the force showed a heat map of flames threatening to engulf homes in the area as smoke billowed across the town.
Stourbridge town hall has been set up as a rescue centre for people who have had to flee their homes.
Councillor Andrew Tromans, who represents Wollaston and Stourbridge Town on Dudley Borough Council, described the scene of the fire in Stourbridge as ‘apocalyptic’.
In a statement on Facebook, he said: ‘The apocalyptic scenes in Norton and across Stourbridge are sadly just a taste of what is to come if we don’t act.’
He added: ‘It is my view, and it has been for a while, that Dudley councillors must have an emergency meeting about (how) we protect our borough from the impacts of climate change.’
Elsewhere, two people were taken to major trauma centres with ‘severe’ injuries following a train derailment in East Sussex, as rail bosses announced an investigation into the cause of the incident.
A major incident was declared by British Transport Police (BTP) after three carriages derailed on their side, trapping passengers on board the Southern train near Lewes yesterday afternoon.
Around 150 people had been on board the service travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne, and have since all been evacuated.
Early speculation has focused on the possibility that the steel tracks expanded in the heat and started to warp, but investigators have yet to establish what caused the train to leave the rails.
Christian Wolmar, a transport expert, told the Daily Mail: ‘Well, there are two possible reasons this has happened. Obviously, the train track might have buckled before the train arrived.
‘But because the first carriages didn’t derail, it might be that the dryness from the heat has led to the embankment collapsing, and then the train made the rails buckle rather than the other way round.
‘I noticed yesterday when I was out on the heath for the eclipse – there’s just great big fissures in Hampstead Heath, big openings like an earthquake, and that must be happening in many places.
‘So it could be that there’s something like that that caused the embankment to partially collapse, and then the rails buckled under the weight of the train because the rails were unsupported.
‘Which could be the more likely explanation given that the first four carriages didn’t go down.’
Norman Baker, who is a former Lewes MP and an ex-transport minister, also suggested the derailment may have been caused by a section of the track buckling in the heat.
He told Times Radio: ‘They’ll want to make sure that the railways are completely safe before any trains are allowed back on them and if it has been the case – that the rails have buckled – that will take considerably longer to repair.’
South East Coast Ambulance Service deputy chief paramedic officer, Michael Bradfield, said there had been a ‘mix of injuries of varied severity’ among the 20 people taken to hospital.
He told a press conference in East Sussex: ‘We have conveyed 18 people to several hospitals in the region.’
He added: ‘My colleagues said there were 20 people who went to hospital – we believe there were two who have made their own way and have self-presented at hospital.
‘There are a range of injuries, two of which were categorised as severe and were conveyed to a major trauma centre. The remaining are a mix of injuries of varied severity.’
He described the derailment as ‘complex and challenging to deal with’ and required ‘a carefully co-ordinated multi-agency response’.
Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail’s route director for Sussex, said the railway between Haywards Heath and Lewes is likely to remain closed for some time as specialist teams carry out assessments.
‘I understand that people will have lots of questions about what has happened today,’ she told reporters.
‘I would like to reassure everyone that we are working closely with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, who are on site to establish exactly what has happened.
‘At the moment, it would be inappropriate to comment as to the cause of this incident but more information would be provided as soon as we can.’
Outside a community centre hosting passengers nearby to the incident, Yana Ludwig, who was travelling alone on the train from London to Lewes, told reporters the experience was ‘completely terrifying’.
‘There was a banging. Everything just went topsy-turvy,’ the 56-year-old from the United States said. ‘It seemed like a really long time but it probably was 10 seconds of that before the carriage actually fell on the side.’
Ms Ludwig described being propped up over the top of another passenger. She added: ‘I’m pretty banged up.’
She said everyone in the train was checking their fellow passengers were OK, adding: ‘These moments everybody kind of pulls together.’
Fire engines, ambulances and police have been stationed along Landport Road in Lewes, alongside a double-decker bus, which was parked up by the community hub waiting for passengers to board.
Local resident Oriana Evans said she and her son helped casualties who were led off the train towards the community centre along the street, showing them where to go, including some passengers who were on holiday.
‘I walked and chatted to some of them in shock really,’ the 54-year-old jewellery maker said.
She said they told her they were alright but ‘really bruised’.
Photographs circulated online show at least two carriages of a train lying on their side, with two passengers standing on top.
On the trains today, East Midlands Railway said it was ‘advising that unless your journey is essential, you should not attempt to travel today’ because of the hot weather.
c2c cancelled 17 trains between London and Essex this afternoon and evening, starting with the 2.27pm service from Shoeburyness to Fenchurch Street.
Great Western Railway said a reduced service would run between London Paddington and Oxford from 1pm until 7pm; while trains in Cornwall between Truro and Falmouth were reduced to hourly; and the Okehampton branch line was replaced by buses.
On West Midlands Railway, buses replaced trains between Rugeley Trent Valley and Hednesford; and between Stourbridge Junction and Worcester Foregate Street.
It comes after the UK was gripped by extreme heat yesterday – making it the second time this year the country has seen temperatures reach 38C.
The high also surpassed the previous hottest day of 2026 when 38C was recorded in the late June heatwave as the UK struggled under a rare ‘red warning’ for extreme temperatures.
The only other time temperatures have reached 38C twice in a year was in 2022 when the UK recorded its hottest ever temperatures.
The intense heat has made 2026 the first year on record to see three separate days where temperatures reached the 37C threshold, as well as the first year with four days at 36C or above, and extends 2026’s record-breaking run of days above 35C.
A Met Office amber warning for extreme heat was in place yesterday for a swathe of England from London to Sheffield, parts of Cheshire and Greater Manchester, into Gloucestershire and Wiltshire in the South West and Shropshire and Herefordshire.
With record dry conditions in July and a dry start to August, nearly three-quarters of England and the whole of Wales are in drought, heaping pressure on water resources for households, agriculture and the environment.
England and Wales have already seen as many wildfires this year as during the whole of 2025.
Some 1,017 wildfires have been recorded in England and Wales this year, according to data shared by the National Fire Chiefs Council, the same as last year’s record-breaking total.
Crews from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service have continued battling a blaze which hit protected heathland in the New Forest after a van caught fire on the A31 near Ringwood on Sunday.
Record-breaking heatwaves in May and June led to the deaths of more than 2,800 people, while parts of the country were hit with two further heatwaves last month as England and Wales endured their driest July since records began in 1836.
A fifth heatwave of the year was declared early last week – and the Met Office has said summer 2026 is on course to be the hottest on record.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login