The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is warning that summer 2026 exposed severe weaknesses in the UK’s preparedness and response to wildfires – the MPs are calling on the government to act now before Spring 2027.

The warning comes in the Committee’s report A burning issue: managing wildfire risk produced as part of the MPs’ ongoing inquiry into climate adaptation and emergency response.

Fire and rescue services in England and Wales have responded to over 1,300 wildfires so far this year, surpassing the total during the whole of 2025, itself a record-breaking year.

England, Scotland and Wales all saw large scale incidents, including military deployment in South Wales; 19 homes destroyed in Stourbridge and thousands of hectares of National Parkland scorched in Scotland’s Cairngorms, Staffordshire and Suffolk.

Introducing the report, the Committee says it found gaps in specialist capability, uncertainty and competition over access to aerial firefighting resources, challenges in securing reliable water supplies during major incidents, and a heavy reliance on local arrangements for resources that are increasingly needed at a national scale.

The report sets out the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations on a number of issues, including:

• A joined up national strategy on wildfires
• Ensuring water supply to fight fires
• Wildfire risk indicators included in weather forecasts and apps
• A ‘toolbox’ approach to land management and a review of controlled burning regulations
• New aircraft and specialist capability
• National, temporary restrictions on disposable barbecues
• Consistent national public awareness campaigning

Ensuring water supply

The report says Phil Garrigan of the National Fire Chiefs Council told MPs that poor access to water had become increasingly prevalent in recent hotter, drier summers. 81% of fire and rescue services say they have changed emergency response plans in areas where access to water is a concern. The major incident in Stourbridge was said by West Midlands Fire Service to have been significantly hampered by several days of low pressure.

The Committee makes the following recommendations:

• As part of its water sector reforms, Defra should establish a statutory framework and national protocol on water companies’ responsibilities during major incidents, including minimum water supplies, pressure, communication and operational coordination with fire services.
• Companies should be required to assess and verify their ability to support firefighting operations.
• Removing barriers to the creation of wildfire suppression ponds and on-farm reservoirs, to improve water access in rural areas.

Committee Chair - “At ground level, water companies must be relied upon for adequate supply”

EFRA Committee Chair Alistair Carmichael MP said:

“Two consecutive, record-breaking years of wildfires should be ringing alarm bells in Westminster. We need to see government preparing for 2027 now. Failure to do so will leave us all exposed to more of the same next year and every year until it is taken seriously.

“This report offers a catalogue of actions the government must prioritise as we adapt to a changing climate, but it also tells the story of how these terrifying incidents leave deep scars, not just on our landscapes, but in the minds of rural communities whose voices tend to be excluded. Change must come from their trauma.

“Fire and rescue services, to whom a huge debt is owed, need investment in their specialist equipment. New aerial capability should be a minimum requirement. At ground level, water companies must be relied upon for adequate supply. Financial support should be offered to unsung heroes who keep watch over the hills, alongside wellbeing support for firefighters including volunteers.

“As the vast majority of fires are man-made, prevention is vital. Britain needs a cultural shift that puts us in step with fire-savvy nations such as Australia. We call for consistent, national public awareness campaigns on fire-risk, national restrictions on high-risk behaviours like disposable barbecues at the most dangerous points in the year, and enhanced weather warnings. All options should be available in the toolbox of land management techniques, reflecting local variations.

“There are structural issues as well as operational ones. Many on the front line do not feel that government has clear processes and lines of accountability. We acknowledge that Whitehall has made improvements, but a national strategy is needed. It should strengthen relationships at ground level and leave no doubt about who, from town halls up to the top of government, has responsibility.

“More than anything else, however, government has got to start listening to and respecting the communities most directly affected by the blight of wildfires. They know better than anyone the impact of wildfires and what can be done to prevent them from happening in the first place. Too often their experience is ignored or overlooked by government and its agencies. Until that changes our response to wildfires will inevitably be inadequate.”

The Committee is recommending that the government should complete and publish its cross-government Wildfire Action Plan by the end of 2026, setting out the specific actions to be taken before the 2027 wildfire season, the departments responsible for delivery, and how progress will be monitored.

In addition, within 12 months of responding to the Committee’s report, the government should publish a National Wildfire Strategy for England. This should provide a coordinated long-term framework for prevention, preparedness, response and recovery; strengthen collaboration between fire and rescue services, land managers, local authorities, environmental bodies and resilience partners; improve monitoring, risk mapping and the sharing of lessons learned; and establish clear accountability for wildfire policy across government.

The MPs say the new Wildfire Strategy for England should set out how it intends to support all methods for the management of fuel loads, alongside longer-term ambitions for peatland restoration over the next decade and beyond.

The MPs have also expressed concern about what they describe as “a breakdown in relations” between Natural England, Defra and rural communities over this issue and others. The Committee is calling for Defra and Natural England to hold a stakeholder roundtable within six months,, focused on rebuilding trust between regulators, policymakers and land managers.

Click here to download the report