FIRE services need “urgent action” from the next government if they are to cope with a repeat of the 2022 heatwave and wildfires which saw firefighters pushed to breaking point, their union has warned.

Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack said Britain’s fire and rescue services are “fragmented, overstretched and chronically underfunded” at a time when climate change is causing record-breaking temperatures and an increased risk of heatwaves.

He said firefighters were “pushed to breaking point” on July 19, 2022, when record temperatures and wildfires saw London Fire Brigade take 3,000 calls.