Burnham considers ban on disposable barbecues
PM calls meeting of crisis committee as he warns that extreme heat conditions ‘could be with us for some weeks yet’
A firefighter sprays water onto burnt ground during a wildfire in the New Forest on Tuesday Credit: Beaminster Fire Station
Andy Burnham is considering banning disposable barbecues because they have caused wildfires during recent UK heatwaves.
The Prime Minister urged retailers to withdraw them from sale in an effort to prevent blazes as he warned that extreme heat conditions “could be with us for some weeks yet”.
His comments came after he chaired a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee in response to the prolonged spell of exceptionally hot and dry weather.
Britain is experiencing a series of heatwaves, with three-quarters of England and all of Wales in drought and a series of large wildfires, including at Dunwich Heath in Suffolk and in the New Forest.
On Wednesday, firefighters were battling the blaze in the New Forest for a fourth day. Steve Wright, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said Britain was facing a “national emergency” because of wildfires.
Temperatures are expected to soar to 38C on Thursday in the fifth heatwave of the summer, which the Met Office has said is on course to eclipse 1976 as Britain’s hottest ever. It advised people against outdoor exercise between 11am and 3pm.
Credit: Paul Marine
The number of wildfires in England and Wales this year is already as many as in the record-breaking total last year, data show. Some 1,017 wildfires have been recorded this year, according to data shared by the National Fire Chiefs Council.
Phil Garrigan, the NFCC chairman, said wildfires were “becoming part of our new reality”, adding: “Hot, dry weather and drought are turning parts of the UK into tinderbox landscapes, allowing fires to spread faster, burn longer and place greater pressure on fire and rescue services.”
Speaking to reporters on a visit to Stevenage in Hertfordshire, Mr Burnham said he was “certainly going to consider” a disposable barbecue ban because many wildfires had been caused by them.
“People should not be using those barbecues outside at this moment in time,” he said.
“I don’t know yet what the remedy is, but I do want to leave the meeting today with a loud and clear message that we do want people to take the greatest possible care when they are out in the countryside, both in terms of cigarettes but also those temporary barbecues that we know are causing risk of fires.”
Andy Burnham said that ‘people should not be using those barbecues outside at this moment in time’ Credit: Toby Shepheard/Pool via Reuters
The Prime Minister’s comments follow calls for restrictions on disposable barbecues from the National Farmers’ Union and Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs.
Jon Pearce, a Labour MP who has been campaigning for a disposable barbecue ban, said: “We need to accept our climate has changed and put in place measures to adapt, and one of those is banning the use of disposable barbecues in public places.
“With the Prime Minister’s support on this, we can reduce the risks of wildfire and protect our precious environment.”
Most major UK supermarkets have suspended sales of disposable barbecues in recent weeks, in line with voluntary guidance from the National Fire Chiefs Council.
Mr Burnham said: “The big risk in terms of risk to the wider regions across the country is the risk of wildfires. What we are seeing is multiple serious incidents across the country.
“There is advice to the public here not to use disposable barbecues. We have today confirmed through the National Fire Chiefs Council that the framework restricting the retail sale of those disposable barbecues is being extended. Now I would ask all retailers, big and small, to adhere to that framework.
“Longer term we will look at whether a temporary ban in the summer months is justified.”
The meeting on Wednesday afternoon was the second of the year to focus on heatwaves after one was held in June.
It was attended by ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Home Office and Department of Health, as well as officials from the Environment Agency.
A No 10 spokesman said it had been called to discuss “the UK’s ongoing response to extreme heat, wildfires and drought”.
Data Issued 10 August 2026 | Environment Agency
Last week, Southern Water warned that more than 165,000 people in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight would face water shortages unless a rare ban on filling public swimming pools and other non-essential uses was implemented.
Under the non-essential use ban, which would be the first anywhere in Britain since 2006, businesses would be barred from washing vehicles and cleaning windows.
The mud bed of the dried-out Hollow Pond in east London as another heatwave looms Credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire
Hot weather has dried out swathes of land across the UK. This parched landscale, except for watered golf greens, is in Dorset Credit: Finnbarr Webster/2026 Getty Images
On Tuesday, the Met Office issued a rare amber extreme heat warning, covering all of England except for the North East, where there is a yellow warning, until midnight on Thursday.
The forecaster said it was “increasingly likely” that the scorching conditions of 2026 would surpass the long, hot summer of 1976.
The summer of 1976 is the hottest on record when assessing the weather by the highest average daily maximum temperature. But if the remainder of this month stays as warm as it has been so far, 2026 will become the hottest summer.
Britain has endured the driest July since records began in 1836, and all Wales and nearly three-quarters of England are in drought.
Left May 2026, Right August 2026
The National Trust said it would carry out a drone survey of the fire-damaged Dunwich Heath after the wildfire there exposed unexploded bombs from the Second World War.
The conservation charity warned people to stay away from the “dangerous” area, with all public rights of access currently suspended.
More than 100 hectares of heathland habitat were destroyed in the blaze around two weeks ago, the National Trust said.
The aftermath of the wildfire at Dunwich Heath in Suffolk Credit: Justin Minns/National Trust
Firefighters from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service described “carnage” as crews battled seven blazes across South Wales. It is believed some of the fires were started deliberately, a spokeswoman for the service said.
Gareth Tovey, the Fire Brigades Union executive council member for Wales, said: “What our members are saying is that the conditions in which they’re fighting these fires are materially different from what we’ve experienced before – it’s so much drier.
“We’re seeing fires progress into areas and expand in ways that we haven’t necessarily seen before.”
He said resources were being pulled in from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service in order to meet demand.
Train passengers using some rail routes have been urged by operators, including Chiltern Railways, East Midlands Railway and Northern, to only travel if necessary on Thursday because services are likely to be disrupted because of hot weather.
On Monday, analysts warned that Britain faced its worst food security crisis in decades as repeated heatwaves risked ruining harvests.
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