Wildfires break out across Britain with families told to run for their lives

Wildfires break out across Britain with families told to run for their lives Bone-dry Britain has been hit by drought after another heatwave sees temperatures soar to 36C and above this week. Bone-dry conditions have now led to devastating wildfires in drought hit Britain with families told to leave their cars to stay alive. Families told how they were trapped for five hours as a massive fire ripped through the New Forest, destroying the equivalent of 100 rugby pitches of land described as 'rarer than the rain forest'. Others were told to leave their vehicles ‘if they want to stay alive’ before police removed part of the central reservation so they could get back in their cars and escape the blaze. And as temperatures continue to soar to 36C later this week in the fifth heatwave of the year there are fears of more to come. The Met Office’s Fire Severity Index for Wednesday shows that if a wildfire were to occur in much of central and southern England it could become "exceptional" - the highest level on the index. Crews have also been fighting a moorland fire in Ebbw Vale in Blaenau Gwent for three days. The smoke seen 70 miles away. On Sunday, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service declared a major incident while 14 crews tackled two separate fires near Mansfield. While in Peterborough, farmers have been out in 'absolute force' to help firefighters battling a peatland nature reserve fire. A fire at the closed Shiregreen Working Men's club in Sheffield which famously appeared in the 1997 film The Full Monty is believed to have been started deliberately. The National Drought Group met Monday as water supplies come under growing pressure from the extreme dry weather and high demand as temperatures shoot up to 36C again this week. River and reservoir levels have continued to fall after less than 10mm of rain across England for the seventh consecutive week. And the National Farmers Union has warned that continuing dry weather could lead to some food shortages. On Sunday flames tore through the New Forest in Hampshire, home to ‘internationally important’ and protected heathland. It has the UK’s rare native species of reptiles and ground-nesting birds. Eye witnesses told how the fire started after a van burst into flames and spread to the surrounding countryside as families headed home on the A31 from a weekend away. Jackie Lane posted about how she was “stuck” in the fire: “It was very frightening with the fire just the other side of the trees. Fortunately someone removed part of the central reservation and we were able to cross onto the other side of the dual carriageway and escape. It was very scary.” She thanked the “selfless people” who helped them “get away”. Malc Smith told how his wife was heading home from a Guinea Pig show with all her animals in the car and people had to help carry the boxes to safety. Mum Lindsey Legg, who was travelling from Heathrow Airport to Bournemouth with her husband and three children, said they had to abandon their car because the flames came right next to them. She said they gathered their suitcases and started walking away from the blaze which they could see through the trees. Eventually, they were able to return to the vehicle and make a u-turn after police cut the hole in the central reservation barrier. She praised the 'wonderful' fire service whose courageous firefighters 'came out sweating with black faces with masks'. She said: "We could see all the flames through the trees right next to the car. We ended up having to abandon the car and going over the central reservation towards the other side of the road. "We got all our suitcases out and thought our car was going to go up at one point. "here was no visibility with the smoke and it was very scary." Robert Green said the fire was 4-500 yards in front of them: "People abandoned cars, running away on the opposite carriageway carrying kids. Our side was trying to turn around and move back through the middle of the cars but it was chaos. "A police lady told us to get out and abandon the car, I was about to when I saw a cop down the road waving some people through. He directed us to a forest track. It was a little bit scary." Hayley Sharma-Smith said even far away they could "feel the heat like we were around a bonfire" and they saw animals trotting down the roads to get away. Thousands had just left the New Forest Fairy Festival, which attracted 10,000 visitors over two days. Matilda, 22, who works for the festival, said: “It was crazy and it was scary. I saw this massive plume of smoke, it was huge coming from behind the A31 and the sun was this bright orange colour, reflecting on the bushes so it looked like the whole lot was on fire. “I could smell the smoke, so had to roll my windows up. One guy with a Land Rover with a tank of water behind him. I hope he was okay.” She said she turned around and returned to her home in Lindhurst: “We could see it from our house which was quite scary..” Firefighters worked through the night to try and save the incredibly rare heathland. On Monday afternoon, the fire service was using drones to monitor the spread of the fire. It said: “There are more than 120 firefighters on the scene battling the heat and arduous terrain, in order to prevent further fire spread. Gillie Molland, lead ranger for the New Forest National Park Authority said: “Globally heathland is more rare than rainforest and takes decades to develop - the New Forest has the most extensive area of lowland heath remaining in Europe. “...The loss of rare species and biodiversity is devastating and upsets the delicate ecological balance of the Forest , as well as reducing grazing land available for commoners’ animals. “Recovery is possible but it can take many years, with some features of mature heathland taking decades to return. “Some rare heathland species may be lost or recover very slowly if local populations have been affected.” Forestry England spokesperson, who manage half of the New Forest including where the blaze took hold, told how the area was an ‘internationally important’ haven for nature. They said it was home to “one of the last strongholds for the UK’s native species,” including our rarest lizards, the sand lizard and adders, the UK’s only poisonous snake. There are also rare ground-nesting birds such as the Curlew, Nightjar which travels from Africa to breed in the New Forest and Lapwings. Water safety campaigners continue to warn of the dangers in water during the latest heatwave. An 18-year-old died after getting into difficulty in the sea at Camber Sands beach, East Sussex on Sunday, bringing the number of deaths in open-water incidents over the hot, dry summer to more than 40. A 19 year old died died after getting into difficulty in the water in the Lake District around 4.35pm on Saturday at Grasmere lake. Amber heat health alerts will be in place for the East Midlands, East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, London, North West, South East, South West, and West Midlands, along with a yellow heat health for the North East, from Tuesday August 11 at 9am until Friday August 14 at 9pm. Chessington World of Adventures had to close for the day in the middle of the summer holidays after a water outage in the local area. Yorkshire Water put some Dales villages, involving 100 homes, on a ‘boil notice’ after bacteria was found at Starbotton reservoir in Upper Wharfedale.