The two largest fires, which were declared major incidents, burned over 7 square miles (4,480 acres; 18 km2) each and broke out on Saddleworth Moor in Greater Manchester and Winter Hill in Lancashire.

[3][4] Other large fires broke out in Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland (640 acres), Epping Forest, in London and in the Vale of Rheidol in Ceredigion, Wales.

[9] June 2018 was the driest on record for some parts of the UK,[10] as a result of a persistent strong Azores High that blocked Atlantic low-pressure weather systems from reaching the British Isles and bringing rainfall.

[6] On 26 June, a high of 30.6 °C (87.1 °F) was recorded at Porthmadog in Gwynedd, Wales, making it the hottest day of the year so far for the United Kingdom.

[18] After a major incident was declared on 26 June and with the fire rapidly approaching populated areas, around 150 people were evacuated from 50 homes close to the advancing fire,[19] including 34 homes on Calico Crescent in Carrbrook, Stalybridge;[17][19] it is thought to be the first time a wildfire has forced such an evacuation to take place in the United Kingdom.

In the House of Commons on 26 June, Prime Minister Theresa May told MPs that the government was keeping the situation on Saddleworth Moor under "constant review"[20] following the declaration of a major incident in response to the wildfires.

[17][19] One GP at a Manchester surgery told BBC News that he had treated numerous people suffering from respiratory illnesses relating to the fire, including nosebleeds, coughs and eye problems.

This pollution reached an eight out of ten on the air quality index[22] with fine particulate concentrations (PM2.5) increasing by over 300% in Oldham and Manchester and up to 50% in areas up to 80 km away.

[19] The Salvation Army arrived at the scene, handing out 1000 bottles of water, 600 Mars bars and sandwiches made from 40 loaves of bread to firefighters.

[29] The proximity of the fire to the broadcasting equipment at Winter Hill transmitting station, which has the second greatest coverage of any UK transmitter at around 7 million people, led to fears that it may disrupt television and radio services.

[30] The transmitter's owners, Arqiva, issued a statement for radio stations in the area to be on standby and prepare for any interruptions in broadcast.

That day Andy Burnham visited the site of the fire and said that he would be speaking to the Home Secretary Sajid Javid about the incident and that he wanted to ensure "all necessary resources are available".

[4] On 29 June 2018 a 22-year-old man was arrested for arson with intent to endanger life, on suspicion of starting the initial Winter Hill fire.

[33] A large gorse fire broke out in the Glenshane Pass area of the Sperrins in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in the early hours of 27 June 2018; the first call to emergency services came at 04:57 am.

[6][34][35] By the end of the day, five separate fires in the pass had rapidly grown to cover an area of over 1 square mile (640 acres) in total,[6] with firefighters struggling to reach the fire due to extremely high temperatures; elsewhere in Northern Ireland, temperatures reached 29.6 °C on 27 June, marking the hottest June day in the province since 1995.

[6] After attempting unsuccessfully to reach the isolated fire on foot for more than an hour during the daytime, firefighters eventually had to be airlifted into the area by helicopter later in the day as temperatures dropped.

[34] Roads through the Glenshane Pass remained open during the fire, although smoke hindered visibility, with the Northern Ireland Weather and Flood Advisory Service warning motorists to take care and prepare for possible short-notice travel disruption.

[47] This continued to burn the rest of the month and, at its height, covered a significantly larger area than the two earlier fires in the county.

Despite a period of rain, which initially helped,[48] windy conditions meant the fire spread[49] to cover 219 acres by 11 August.

[44] On 27 June, a small grass fire broke out on Breidden Hill close to Admiral Rodney's Pillar, between Welshpool and Llanymynech in Powys.

Six fire engines and crews, from Malvern, Worcestershire, Worcester, Upton-upon-Severn, Droitwich, Whitchurch, Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye, attended, plus two restricted access vehicles and a water carrier.

[59] One particularly severe wildfire broke out on a hillside above Old Lane in Boothtown, Halifax on 1 July, burning within 20 metres (66 ft) of three residential blocks of flats on Canterbury Crescent before being brought under control.

The fire destroyed around 700 m2 (7,500 sq ft) of steep hillside shrubland habitat on the hills above the city, as well as numerous buildings and structures at the abandoned Sheffield Ski Village site.

The fire broke out in a field off Hinton Road with the blaze encompassing around 150 square metres (1,600 sq ft) of land.