March was very dry here - think half an inch of ran fell in total for the month. I have an interest in rainfall, as for a number of years we were a recording site for rainfall for the met office, and snow - used to weigh the snow and record it!!!
It has not rained at all in April. Our ground is rock hard, and cracking up in places.
We get a lot of walkers here, going up on to the moors. Every year we get fires, caused a lot of the time by a discarded cigarette. Tonight the local moor land is on fire, 4 separate fires. Sirens going, flashing lights as the fire engines, and mountain rescue rush to the scene to try and contain it. Unfortunately its very windy tonight, so the fire will spread quickly, and there is thousands of acres of dry bracken, gorse (which is full of oil) and heather.
Its awful because there are nesting birds, and also sheep with lambs - the sheep stand a chance as its open moorland, but birds on the ground, may not be as lucky.
Suppose this will be the first of many fires with the dry weather, and the fact its bringing out a lot of walkers. I have seen silly people ignore the signs about the fire risk and actually start a fire to cook on!!!
Topic: Moorland fjres (Read 2435 times)
