‘It could have been a second Great Fire’: how east London blaze showed scale of UK wildfire threat

In record 40C heat on 19 July 2022, 18 homes were lost in village of Wennington – a signal for firefighters to adapt, but UK response remains fragmented When neighbours urged Lynn Sabberton and her partner, Terry, to flee from their home in Wennington one day in 2022, the couple weren’t sure they should bother. A fire was burning in their village, on the eastern edge of London, but Terry thought it was too far away to be a problem. Struggling with a lung disease made worse by the record 40C h...

By David Shukman