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 battling a wildfire on fields at Flinton Hill Farm.Firefighters tackle a blaze which destroyed 80 tons of straw at Flinton Hill Farm in Sunderland after being deliberately started by children Credit: NNP A wildfire burning across a field at night as firefighters work to contain it in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.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 yesterday visited .

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.

In , 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 Sunday.

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 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.”

Aerial view of homes destroyed by wildfires in Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom.Houses destroyed by a wildfire Credit: Getty A woman with red hair and a green dress speaks into a microphone in an office setting.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 said showers from today would be followed by heavy downpours for much of the UK on Thursday.