News on Surrey's Greener Future

What is a wildfire?

Wildfires are caused by humans 90% of the time, so they are largely preventable if the correct precautions are taken. It could be as simple as ensuring that campfires & barbeques are correctly extinguished by the end of use.

But what about the 10% of times where the cause of wildfires is out of our hands? Wildfires can also be caused by the build-up of dead organic matter, like leaves, twigs, etc. When weather conditions patterns change and we experience long periods of warm dry weather, the likelihood of wildfires increases.

What does this mean for Surrey?

As the weather gets warmer closer to home, we have started to experience wildfires in areas of Surrey. In 2020, a Surrey wildfire forced 120 people to leave their homes, with the event declared a major incident. The blaze covered 150 acres of land at its peak.

As this pattern of extreme weather continues, there is a risk that Surrey could become more widely impacted in years to come.

Just last year during 2022, there were major fire incidents in Surrey that affected at least eight hectares of land.

Our changing climate

We know that climate change doesn’t directly cause or create wildfires, but it can make them worse. A number of different factors contribute to the increased frequency of wildfires:

1. Increased temperatures – Climate change has caused an undeniable increase in temperatures, with 2022 seeing a new record set for the highest temperature recorded in the UK.

2. Dryness/ reduced rainfall – Increased temperatures and changing weather patterns have led to prolonged period periods of dryness in zones not historically prone to this.

3. Fuel load – the vegetation in Surrey is susceptible to drying out during period of extreme weather, this adds to the potential fuel available to fuel fires.

4. Wind speed – Fire is often spread by wind, changes in wind patterns caused by climate change can cause fire to spread at a rapid rate.

As climate change contributes to these factors, this leaves Surrey more susceptible to wildfires, therefore the more we can do to reduce our carbon footprint across the county, the better.