UK firefighters go to Spain for wildfire training as number of blazes surges

Exclusive: wildfires, once rare in the UK, more than doubled last year to nearly 24,000 with devastating effects on wildlife habitats

Wildfires recorded by UK fire brigades surged in 2022 amid extreme heat and droughts, new figures show, as a growing number of fire services invest in new equipment to deal with the rising fire risk due to climate change.

Figures obtained by the Guardian under Freedom of Information Act requests show the number of wildfires recorded by fire brigades in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland more than doubled last year, reaching 23,699 in 2022, compared with 9,307 the year before.