Wildfires are becoming “normal” in the UK, with the number of blazes so far this year nearly double that for the whole of 2018, experts have warned.

Fires such as the weeks’ long conflagration on Saddleworth Moor last summer will strike more frequently due to longer dry spells prompted by global warming, the scientists said.

The warning came as new analysis by the London School of Economics (LSE) showed there have been 134 recorded wildfires so far this year, affecting 29,152 hectares.

Even at only halfway through the year, this represents a sharp increase on the 79 fires recorded in 2018, affecting 18,031 hectares.

There were just 19 fires affecting 5,126 hectares recorded in 2017.

More than a quarter of the land damaged this year is accounted for by huge blaze which took place in the north of Scotland in April, thought to be the largest to take place in the UK since 1990.

Spring is the most dangerous time for fires because plants which are not yet in their full growth cycle contain less water.