2025 Dava wildfire

2025 Dava wildfire - THE UK'S FIRST MEGAFIRE
Part of the 2025 United Kingdom wildfires
Date
  • 28 June 2025 (2025-06-28)
LocationDava, Scottish Highlands, Scotland
Coordinates57°24′N 3°39′W / 57.4°N 3.65°W / 57.4; -3.65
Map
2025 Dava wildfire is located in Highland
2025 Dava wildfire
Location of the fire in the Scottish Highlands
2025 Dava wildfire is located in Scotland
2025 Dava wildfire
2025 Dava wildfire (Scotland)

On 28 June 2025, a series of wildfires broke out in the Scottish Highlands around the area of Dava (near the town of Forres). The wildfire continued to spread for the coming days, with volunteers and fire crews assisting in the fire to be extinguished. On 30 June, heavy rainfall entered the region and assisted with extinguishing the fire. Scientists have designated the four-day fire as the first recorded megafire in the UK.

Events

The fire had started from Loch Allan sometime before the afternoon of 28 June 2025, and after being ignited continued to spread eastward, turning into at least nine separate fires. At around 5pm emergency services were notified of the ongoing fire and were called to the scene. The roads in the area, including, but not limited to, the A939, B9007, B9012 and A940 were closed due to them crossing the path of the fire.

During the wildfire, volunteers, farmers, gamekeepers and other civilians assisted in extinguishing the fire. Residents of the area also brought food and supplies for the work effort.

On 29 June aerial firefighters began entering the scene, taking water from nearby lochs to douse the fire.

In the evening of 30 June, the smoke had blown into areas such as Forres, Nairn, Carrbridge, Grantown-on-Spey and Aviemore. During this, some of the sky had turned to a tinted yellow-ish colour. Later into the day, rainfall had approached from the west and had helped extinguish the fire.

Aftermath of the wildfire

This event constituted Scotland's largest wildfire, "affecting approximately 11,827 hectares of moorland and woodland across the Carrbridge 5,234 hectares (12,930 acres) and Dava 6,593 hectares (16,290 acres) areas".

References

  1. 1 2 "Fire crews battle two-day wildfires north of Grantown-on-Spey as roads closed". www.bbc.com. 2025-06-29. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  2. 1 2 "In pictures: Scotland's four-day battle with wildfires". BBC News. 2025-07-01. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  3. ↑ Schoenecker, Johanna; Baur, Martin J.; Kohli, Juliana; Baker, Sarah; Jones, Matthew; Veraverbeke, Sander; Konings, Alexandra G.; Pellegrini, Adam F. A. (July 2026). "Widespread peat carbon losses driven by the 2025 Scottish megafire". Nature Geoscience. 19 (7): 763–766. doi:10.1038/s41561-026-01994-3. hdl:1871.1/461895f2-66db-47ce-9cba-716b7d22d04e. ISSN 1752-0908.
  4. ↑ "Flood alert for Highland and Moray areas affected by wildfires". BBC News. 2025-06-30. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  5. 1 2 Cromar, Chris (2025-07-01). "Fire crews and volunteers battling wildfires inundated with donations from community". Press and Journal. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  6. ↑ Milne, Ellie (2025-06-29). "Crews across the north battle raging fires at Nairn, Carrbridge and Grantown". Press and Journal. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  7. ↑ "Heads down in Badenoch as wildfire 'fall out' reaches for 20 miles now". Strathspey Herald. 2025-06-30. Retrieved 2025-07-01.
  8. ↑ “Report Summary: The Response to the Carrbridge and Dava Wildfires by Land-Based and Rural Businesses”. Moorland Association. Retrieved 21 July 2025.