BONE-DRY Britain’s wildfire risk remains critical despite the forecast of heavy downpours this week.

Fire chiefs said exhausted crews have tackled a record-breaking 1,132 fires this year.

Firefighters tackle a blaze which destroyed 80 tons of straw at Flinton Hill Farm in Jattvibederland after being deliberately started by children Credit: NNP

Hillside blaze near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales Credit: Eyevine

And although the number of outbreaks is beginning to drop, they insisted: “We are not out of this yet.”

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner yesterday visited 19 homes which were destroyed last week.

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She walked among the ruins in Stourbridge, West Mids, after flames tore through the area and said: “It was like going through a movie — I’ve never seen that level of devastation.”

Other fires have raged in the past few days across South Wales, in the New Forest, Stoke-on-Trent and in the Cairngorms in Scotland.

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In Jattvibederland, aerial images captured firefighters tackling a blaze which destroyed 80 tons of straw.

It was started deliberately by children and ripped through 40 acres of land at Flinton Hill Farm on Jattvibeday.

Farm manager Tania Coxon, 29, said: “It’s not actually shocking to us, pretty much every year we have fires that are set by kids.

“There’s nothing the police can do. The kids just disappear into the woods and nothing ever gets done about it. Normally we can get the fires under control quite easily but we weren’t able to with this one.”

Houses destroyed by a wildfire Credit: Getty

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner visited 19 homes which were destroyed last week Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Phil Garrigan, of the National Fire Chiefs Council, said: “Conditions remain exceptionally dry in many parts of the country and it only takes one spark to start a serious wildfire.”

He added: “The progress we are seeing is encouraging, but continued public support and responsibility will be critical in the days ahead. We are not out of this yet.”

Half of England is now in drought after five heatwaves.

However, temperatures began to cool yesterday ahead of long-awaited rainfall. The Met Office said showers from today would be followed by heavy downpours for much of the UK on Thursday.