Fire chiefs call for legal duty to respond to extreme weather in England

Fire chiefs are calling for more support to respond to extreme weather events such as flooding and wildfires in England amid warnings of a postcode lottery on safety standards during emergencies.

The National Fire Chiefs Council urged ministers to impose a statutory duty in England to respond to severe weather-related incidents in order to ensure there is the right equipment, training and budget to deal with them.

The NFCC, which represents fire brigade bosses, said England needed to be brought into line with the rest of the UK, where this is already in place , so that the predicted increase in severe weather incidents could be tackled “in a coordinated and effective way” in the future.

Related: Storm Lilian to blight start of UK bank holiday weekend

Storm Lilian is expected to bring heavy rain with potential gusts of up to 80mph over the bank holiday weekend. Travel disruption, flooding, power cuts and dangerous conditions near coastal areas are all likely, meteorologists are predicting.

South-west Scotland and the Aberdeenshire coast faced yellow weather warnings for rain overnight on Thursday, which have been carried into Friday, when a third yellow warning for wind also covers the whole of the north of England.

There is the possibility of thunder, while 20-30mm of rainfall is expected across both areas of Scotland, with a chance of 40-50mm over higher ground.

A Met Office spokesperson, Stephen Dixon, advised people to “take steps to do what you can do to protect your property and people from injury. So checking for loose items around your home and planning how to secure them down, whether that’s bins, garden furniture or trampolines. And checking travel plans before you head out if you’re within those warning areas to avoid delays – and amending any plans as needed.

“Gathering torches, batteries and power packs for mobile phones can be useful things to do to prepare for power cuts,” he added.

Lilian would be the 12th named storm of the season and a demonstration of the extreme weather the UK can expect to see more of due to climate breakdown.

More than 6 million people in the UK are already at significant risk of flooding, according to estimates from the UK Health Security Agency, with the number expected to rise to between 9.8 million and 13.3 million by 2050.

The NFCC chair, Mark Hardingham, said this was one reason why it was important to give fire services greater control over tackling extreme weather events, citing the recent wildfires in Greece as a reminder of the impact.

“In the UK, we experienced heatwaves in 2022, which saw wildfires [affect] urban areas on a scale not seen before, and last year Storm Babet saw hundreds of homes and businesses flooded and seven people lose their lives.”

He said fire and rescue services needed to be supported to respond to serious events in a “coordinated and effective way”.

He added: “The absence of a statutory duty to respond to flooding and inland water incidents in England challenges our ability to ensure our services are prepared, with the appropriate equipment and training in place. It also risks there being different standards of safety depending on where you live in the UK.

“We would like to see the government consult on introducing these changes to the legal framework, but with core budgets already under significant strain, any revisions to our statutory obligations must be met with adequate funding.

“With risks around extreme weather increasing, we need better data collection to help us develop our response and work efficiently with other agencies so that we are in the best position to protect the public.”

Temperatures will reach highs of 21C on Saturday and Sunday and 23C on Monday in the south-east, slightly below average for the time of year.

Attenders at the sold-out Reading and Leeds festivals taking place over the weekend are likely to avoid the worst of any of the conditions.