A large wildfire burns on Saddleworth Moor near Marsden, UK. Anthony Devlin/Getty

Firefighters have been tackling a large moorland blaze in West Yorkshire, UK.

An area of about 1.5 square kilometres was burning on Saddleworth Moor after the country saw its hottest winter day on record on Tuesday.

The fire near Marsden could be seen for miles around as crews from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service battled to contain it through the night.


Witnesses described the “terrible” scene of fire coming close to buildings high on the moorland.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire now looks to be out, but five fire engines and two specialist moorland firefighting units will remain on the moor to tackle any further hotspots.

Incident Commander Laura Boocock told the BBC it was one of the biggest grass fires she has ever seen, but it was “nothing they can’t handle”.

Perfect conditions

Heather burning is permitted between October and April to remove older growth and allow new plants to grow, providing food for game and livestock.

In a statement issued by the Science Media Centre, Thomas Smith of the London School of Economics said that moorland fires are quite normal in February, but some have got out of control.

“The weather has been dry for over a week, and the unseasonably warm temperatures have driven relative humidity down to around 30 per cent – the perfect conditions for a fire to spread with wind.”

The fires are unlikely to cause much damage because of the soil still being wet, he added. “In this respect, many of these fires are probably helping to reduce fuel load for future potentially more severe fires in the late spring/summer.”

The fire on Saddleworth came after firefighters had to tackle a large gorse fire on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.

Some 800 square metres of gorse was ablaze on the Salisbury Crags, with the flames visible across the city.

In Kew Gardens, London, the temperature on Tuesday reached 21.2°C, the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK in winter.