UK to deploy RAF aircraft as wildfire preparedness comes under scrutiny

The UK government is preparing Royal Air Force helicopters and transport aircraft to help civilian crews fight wildfires, Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to announce at the country’s first wildfire resilience summit. RAF Chinooks and A400M planes will be available to fire services across all four UK nations when requested, according to BBC News. The aircraft are intended for difficult locations including remote moorland, steep hillsides and other terrain that ground crews may struggle to reach.

The BBC said the Chinooks and A400Ms are being equipped for wildfire operations for the first time, although Chinook crews have previously practised lifting and dropping water-filled firefighting buckets and have assisted with fires in Cyprus. The government has also announced up to £45m for wildfire-specific personal protective equipment. The equipment is lighter than the clothing normally used for building fires, which ministers said is not designed to be worn for extended periods during outdoor incidents.

Additional specialist wildfire teams will also be provided to English fire services, according to Punch Nigeria. Further measures include a £25m programme running from April 2027 to April 2029 to restore dried-out peatlands in England. The government says restored peatlands can act as natural firebreaks.

Farmers are also expected to receive support for measures such as digging ponds and otherwise fireproofing their land. Ministers will examine tougher local restrictions or product bans during periods of high fire risk, the BBC reported. That follows a temporary ban on disposable barbecues.

The summit will also discuss a proposed Wildfires AI Unit bringing together universities, technology companies, government officials and Met Office wildfire forecasts, alongside closer cooperation with the devolved administrations. The immediate impetus is the scale of this year’s fires. The BBC reported 1,350 wildfires in England and Wales, an all-time high and more than 300 above last year’s figure.

Summer 2026 was also the UK’s hottest on record, according to the Met Office. The agency said human-induced climate change made the heat 130 times more likely. Burnham has referred to a fire in Stourbridge, in the West Midlands, in which 19 homes were destroyed and 18 damaged in August.

“I stood in Stourbridge and watched families lose everything,” he said in remarks released before the summit. He said firefighters needed the right equipment and that the country could not endure another summer like this one. The policy has drawn criticism from environmental campaigners.

Friends of the Earth campaigner Sienna Somers pointed to the government’s approval of new drilling in the Jackdaw North Sea gas field, calling the decision inconsistent with climate adaptation and describing the project as a “carbon-bomb”. She urged further investment in nature-based measures and opposition to new oil and gas developments. The reports differ in emphasis over the scale and timing of the response.

Punch Nigeria focused on the £45m allocation and military aircraft, while the BBC detailed the peatland programme, possible restrictions and the proposed AI unit. Both reports also noted that a parliamentary committee had found weaknesses in Britain’s preparedness, including insufficient aerial firefighting capacity, water access and national coordination.