RAF brought in to battle wildfire

The RAF was drafted in to help tackle a wildfire that burned for two days.

Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) was joined by colleagues from Cumbria and an RAF appliance to battle the blaze in Wark forest, Northumberland, which began on Tuesday afternoon.

More than 4,000 square metres of young trees, grassland and bracken was burned following a spell of very dry weather, with little rain and higher than average temperatures.

The fire service said the wildfire was "quickly contained". However, it became "deep-seated" and some hot spots took days to fully extinguish.

NFRS Wildfire Team Leader Robert Stacey warned the risk of wildfires remained extremely high across the county.

He said: "All vegetation across Northumberland is extremely dry and could easily ignite.

"Any fires that do start may quickly become large wildfires under the current conditions.

"These deep-seated fires are very challenging and require a lot of fire crews, water and time to fully extinguish," he added.

Warm temperatures are expected to continue, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The forecast in the area predicts more sun for the next few days with a chance of rain from 22 May.

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