More than 40 properties were destroyed and 16 firefighters injured as fires swept across London amid extreme 40C heat on Tuesday.
London Fire Brigade had its busiest day since the end of the Second World War with more than 2,600 emergency calls made.
On a normal day the service receives between 350 and 500 calls.
A large blaze which broke out in Wennington, east London just after 1pm destroyed two rows of terraced houses, four detached and semi-detached houses, and two outbuildings. Six garages, 12 stables and five cars were also destroyed.
Around 100 firefighters were called to the sprawling fire on the village’s green with residents forced to flee for their lives.
The blaze, along with a series of other incidents across the capital, caused the London Fire Brigade to declare a major incident on Tuesday, prompting crews to ask the public to only call 999 in an emergency.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Sky News on Wednesday: "It is really important for us to recognise that one of the consequences of climate change and these sorts of temperatures is the sort of fires we are seeing.
"The challenge in London is we have got a lot of grass. A lot of green spaces but a lot of it infringes on properties.
“We have not had rain for a long period, the grass is incredibly dry and fires can start very quickly and spread even faster because of wind."
Other blazes also occurred in Dagenham, Uxbridge, Kenton, and Erith, several of which also destroyed homes.
Wennington, east London
Residents in Wennington told of fleeing for their lives after the blaze took hold about 1pm on Tuesday, with firefighters battling for almost nine hours to bring it under control.
Two detached houses, two semi-detached houses, two rows of terraced houses, two outbuildings, six single-storey garages, 12 stables and five cars were destroyed by the blaze. Another detached property was badly damaged.
Dramatic footage showed fields and houses engulfed in black smoke.
One elderly woman was seen crying in the aftermath of the devastating blaze, saying: “Oh my God - the house is gone”, while her family tried to comfort her.
A firefighter at the scene, asked by the PA news agency what conditions were like, replied: “Absolute hell”.
One resident, Lynn Sabberton, told Sky News: “I saw the black smoke and the helicopters came over and more police came into our neighbourhood and it was really spreading very fast.
"It just spread so quickly, I think the wind caused the fire to go our way towards the village."
Around 90 surrounding properties were also evacuated, while no injuries were reported. Around 100 firefighters were called to the blaze, which was declared under control by 9.47pm. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Dagenham, east London
Several houses have been left destroyed after a grass fire on Ballards Road in Dagenham on Tuesday afternoon shortly before 2pm.
A range of semi-detached houses on nearby Stratford Close were destroyed, while semi-detached houses on Boleyn Gardens, Beech Gardens and Farm Close were also damaged or destroyed.
An area of parkland of around eight hectares was also damaged in the fire and 25 vehicles were torched by the flames.
A man and woman were taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation by London Ambulance Service crews, and around 135 people were evacuated from surrounding properties.
About 100 evacuated people were being supported at a Red Cross rest centre on Tuesday night.
Borough Commander Paul McClenaghan, who was at the scene, said crews were initially called to a “significant grass fire” with additional hot spots also causing damage.
He said firefighters, who managed to get the blaze under control by 10.40pm, “worked in incredibly hot, difficult conditions”.
Kenton, north-west London
Firefighters said the fire in Kenton’s Hawthorne Avenue at 4.18pm razed a disused church hall and car wash, two semi-detached houses and nine vehicles.
Around 70 firefighters were called to the fire, which damaged another three properties. One man was taken to hospital.
Station Commander Paul Osborne, who was at the scene, said: "Around 100 people were evacuated from nearby blocks of flats, which firefighters protected with jets to try and stop the fire spreading.”
The fire was under control by 9.42pm, and is under investigation.
Erith, south-east London
The majority of significant fires from across #London yesterday are now under control, but crews will remain at the scene of many today continuing to damp down hotspots. This is a video from a large blaze in #Erith last night which 20 fire engines attended https://t.co/dJgd7vdwMP pic.twitter.com/atVKB53J3o
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) July 20, 2022
Two commercial warehouses were destroyed by a grass fire and a further warehouse was damaged.
An area of grassland and bushes of around five hectares was also involved in the blaze, which started around 6.33pm.
Around 125 firefighters brought the blaze under control by 1.27am on Wednesday morning.
They rescued 15 people using fire escape hoods and another 13 people were led to safety by crews. There were no reports of any injuries.
Uxbridge, west London
Around 70 firefighters tackled a grass fire on Western Avenue in Uxbridge at 2.46pm, which took until 6am Wednesday morning to get under control.
Around seven hectares of grassland, undergrowth and fallen trees were damaged by the fire and there were no reports of any injuries.
Fire crews from Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service were also called to help deal with the inferno, alongside crews from Hayes, Richmond, Twickenham.
