After the flames: scientists investigate the hidden damage left by UK wildfires

When a wildfire is finally extinguished, the most obvious signs of the disaster are easy to see: blackened hillsides, scorched vegetation and acres of burned ground.

But some of the most important damage may be happening where we cannot see it.

Scientists at Bangor University have launched an urgent research programme to investigate what this summer's wildfires have done beneath the surface of the British landscape — examining the effects on soils, biodiversity, carbon storage, water quality and the ability of burned land to recover.

The research comes after an extraordinary wildfire season across the UK. More than 500 fires were recorded during July alone, according to Bangor University, affecting farmland, moorland, heathland and upland grassland.

National Fire Chiefs Council figures also showed that fire and rescue services in England and Wales had responded to 706 wildfires by 28 July, including 208 incidents in less than two weeks.

The fire may be out, but the damage isn't over

Wildfire is usually measured by what can be seen: the area burned, buildings threatened, people evacuated and the number of firefighters and appliances required to bring an incident under control.

Once the smoke clears, however, the landscape itself can continue to change.

Soil is not simply dirt beneath the vegetation. Healthy soils contain complex communities of microorganisms, store carbon and nutrients, retain water and help support the plants and animals living above them.

Intense fire can alter those systems — and in landscapes containing deep organic soils or peat, the consequences can be particularly significant.

The Bangor team is therefore examining different types of burned landscape to understand which are most vulnerable, which recover naturally and where active intervention may be needed.

The scientists intend to return to study sites six, 12 and 24 months after fires, allowing them to follow the recovery process rather than simply recording the immediate aftermath.

Why Britain's peatlands matter

The research is particularly significant for the UK because large areas of upland Britain contain peat and other carbon-rich soils.

Healthy, wet peat can be relatively resistant to severe burning. But when peatlands become dry, fire can potentially penetrate beyond the vegetation and into the organic material accumulated below ground.

That changes the equation considerably.

Instead of a fire consuming only grasses, heather or other surface vegetation, carbon that may have been stored in the landscape for centuries can also be released.

Recent research into the enormous Dava Moor wildfire in Scotland in 2025 demonstrated the scale of that risk. Scientists estimated that the fire burned around 10,000 hectares, with unusually dry soil conditions helping create an event described by researchers as the UK's first wildfire to cross the commonly used 10,000-hectare threshold for a "megafire".

The lesson is important well beyond Scotland: the condition of the ground before a wildfire can be just as important as the vegetation growing on top of it.

Wildfire can become a water problem too

There is another consequence which receives considerably less attention: water.

Upland soils and peatlands act like enormous natural water-management systems. They store rainfall, slow the movement of water through catchments and influence the quality of water entering rivers and reservoirs.

Damage those systems and a wildfire can potentially create problems long after firefighters have left.

Burned ground may be less able to retain water, while the loss of vegetation can leave soil exposed to erosion. Heavy rain following a fire can then wash ash, sediment and organic material into streams and reservoirs.

That is one reason the Bangor research is looking beyond the immediate ecological effects of wildfire. The university says its findings could ultimately help land managers and policymakers protect drinking-water supplies and reduce erosion and flood risks as well as safeguard vulnerable habitats.

From drought to flood

The timing is particularly interesting because wildfire and flooding can appear to be opposite problems — yet the two can be closely connected.

As August draws to a close, 71% of England by land area remains officially classified as being in drought despite recent rainfall.

Rainfall during August has remained far below average, leaving soils, vegetation and water resources under pressure after prolonged dry weather.

But intense rainfall falling onto very dry or fire-damaged ground can run off rapidly rather than soaking into the soil. That means a landscape can move surprisingly quickly from wildfire danger to localised flooding and erosion.

In other words, putting the fire out is not necessarily the end of the emergency for the landscape.

Understanding what happens next

The Bangor University project is being developed with organisations involved in wildfire response and land management, including Natural Resources Wales, Defra, the Forestry Commission, Natural England, the National Trust, National Park authorities, Scottish Forestry and fire and rescue services.

Researchers are also asking landowners and land managers to help identify suitable recently burned sites.

By comparing different ecosystems and following them for two years, the scientists hope to establish why some landscapes recover more successfully than others — and whether damaged sites sometimes need intervention to help that recovery.

That knowledge could become increasingly valuable.

Britain has traditionally thought about wildfire primarily as an emergency response problem: detect the fire, send firefighters, contain it and extinguish it.

But a succession of severe fire seasons is forcing a much wider question.

How do we make the landscape itself more resilient?

That means understanding not only where fires occur, but the conditions that allow them to become severe, the damage they leave behind and how that damage affects everything from wildlife and carbon storage to water supplies and flooding.

For wildfire monitoring services such as Wildfire Watch, it also highlights why the end of visible fire activity does not necessarily mean that the consequences of an incident are over.

A satellite hotspot can disappear within hours. Smoke can clear within days. Green vegetation may eventually return.

But beneath the surface, the story of a wildfire can continue for years.

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Sources and further reading

• Bangor University – Scientists race to measure wildfire damage to UK soils
• National Fire Chiefs Council – More than 200 wildfires recorded in less than two weeks
• Environment Agency – Dry weather and drought in England: 21–27 August 2026
• Nature Geoscience – Widespread peat carbon losses driven by the 2025 Scottish megafire