The Met Office is warning that wildfires could become ‘exceptional’ in Herefordshire if a fire was to break out over the coming days, with heatwave conditions set to persist for the next five days.
A combination of the driest July since 1935, high temperatures and very dry land has led to an increasing risk of wildfires across parts of the UK, with Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service attending calls on a daily basis at present.
The Met Office’s Fire Severity Index (FSI), is an assessment of how severe a fire could become if one were to start. It is not an assessment of the risk of wildfires occurring.
The FSI shows the current day’s fire severity and a forecast of likely fire severity over the coming five days. The index values are from 1 to 5, which represents an increasing degree of fire severity as follows:
- FSI level 1 = low fire severity
- FSI level 2 = moderate fire severity
- FSI level 3 = high fire severity
- FSI level 4 = very high fire severity
- FSI level 5 = exceptional fire severity
Please note that the quality of the forecast FSI for 5 days ahead will not be as accurate as the FSI for the current day. This is because there are always uncertainties in weather forecasting several days ahead.
More Details – https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/fire-severity-index/#?tab=map&fcTime=1660302000&zoom=7&lon=-2.87&lat=51.94
