While the ongoing heatwave has seen Leeds residents enjoying basking in sun, many have been left "heartbroken" after a series of wild fires have been reported.
On Monday afternoon, when temperatures raked up to 37C across the county, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue attended 53 incidents. The hot temperatures have started wild fires which saw smoke clouds over the city, as well as smoke from BBQ's started in parks and gardens.
While these fires have become depressingly familiar in some parts of the world, most of Britain is just waking up to the reality of extreme weather that’s exacerbated by humanmade climate change.
Read more: Do heatwaves make you worry about global warming? Have your say
A smoke cloud was seen by sunbathers at Primrose Valley Park on Monday afternoon. Fire crews confirmed attending a 50-metre grass fire at 4.14pm at Sutton Approach in Killingbeck.
They also attended a small fire at Helston Street Middleton. The biggest fire, according to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue was attended to a visible from White Rose Shopping Centre in Dewsbury Road.
One eyewitness to this incident said: "The ground is so dry and with this heat it doesn't take much for it to quickly 'go up'."
Linda Ellis added: "It was right next fields here just road and hedge between houses." While Emily Beaumont said: "I'm surrounded by farmland that has wheat and straw, not gonna lie its the only time I've even considered how quickly it could all go up."
Another individual who said the climate change issue is "heart-breaking", added: "There was another one [fire] down Manston Lane in the woods. There were three fire engines been there as well."
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue confirmed: "We attended 53 grass and moorland fires across the service yesterday. We were called to a 50 metre grass fire at 16.14 at Sutton Approach, one pump from Leeds attended.
"We had a fire on Helston Street in the Middleton area of Leeds but it was a make pumps four, so not a massive fire. The biggest one we attended in Leeds yesterday pm. It was visible from the White Rose so quite visible."
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue have also attended a number of wild fires over the past two days. On Monday morning they had attended two incidents in Doncaster. The first saw a lot of calls incoming following a barn fire off Rossington Road, Great North Road.
A second large scale incident was reported around 12pm in Hatfield, Doncaster. A spokesperson for the fire crew said: "It's another field fire and we have four fire engines on the scene."
Wildfires continued to rage across continental Europe, with authorities battling to control blazes across France, Greece, Italy and elsewhere. In Spain and Portugal, more than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to their brutal, weeklong heat wave.
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