In 31 years on the job, London Fire Brigade (LFB) station commander Alex Strand has fought some of the capital’s worst blazes since World War Two.
This searingly hot summer has been his busiest ever. The veteran firefighter has regularly scrambled from his central London base to battle wildfires raging in the capital’s outer boroughs.
But last month, he was mobilised to a wildfire with a difference: the flames sweeping down a country park in Rainham, east London, were just yards from his family home.
Where and when to see solar eclipse – and do you need glasses?
With the UK set to see a rare partial solar eclipse on Wednesday evening, here is everything you need to know ahead of the event.
What you need to know
- A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, obscuring the Sun’s light for a few minutes.
- Many parts of the country will experience between 89 per cent and 96 per cent coverage of the Sun.
- This year’s eclipse occurs in the evening, starting at around 6.15pm and ending a little after 8pm – depending on your location.
- The next total solar eclipse over the UK will not happen until 23 September 2090.
The best places to view it
People in the south-west of England are likely to get the most coverage.
For the best view, it is important to go high up. In London, this could mean Primrose Hill or the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.
There will be events to watch the eclipse all over the country, including at Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Armagh Observatory, Pendennis Castle in Cornwall and the National Space Centre in Leicester.
Do you need glasses?
There has been a last-minute rush for eclipse glasses, with many high street shops and online retailers sold out. Experts have warned that normal sunglasses are not safe to use to view the solar event.
If you want to view the spectacle, you could alternatively use a pinhole camera to project the shadow of the eclipse onto a flat surface.
5 min read
We should smile at our dogs – a new scientific study reveals why
Man’s best friend can distinguish between positive and negative emotions, according to researchers at the University of Vienna.
What you need to know
- Scientists studied 14 dogs who sat in MRI scanners to see what happens in their brains.
- The reward centre of their brains “light up” with activity when shown photos of smiling human faces.
3 min read
What does this mean?
Laura Cuaya, one of the study’s lead researchers, said “This finding suggests that happy faces, even those of strangers, have a positive value for dogs”.
She added: “We can reward our dogs with treats, but also reward them with happiness.”
Firefighters work ‘tirelessly’ to contain fire
Firefighters are beginning a third day of tackling a fire in the New Forest which they say they are “managing to contain” after working “tirelessly” through the night.
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service initially scrambled 26 fire engines and four water carriers to the eastbound A31 after receiving 160 emergency calls reporting a van had caught fire on Sunday evening.
How did the fire progress?
The fire service said the blaze spread from the vehicle to the central reservation before progressing into nearby heathland in a south-easterly direction towards Backley Bottom, and is in a “challenging rural location”.
An update released on Tuesday by the fire service said that a change in wind direction had “provided a challenge” overnight but it was managing to prevent “spread and escalation”.
Cows face backdrop of smoke
A closer look at the detail
A total of seven fire engines, with water carriers and off-road vehicles, were involved in the operation overnight, which continued to use water pumped through miles of pipes laid from a nearby lake as part of a high-volume pump (HVP) system.
And the A31 – the main route through the New Forest – remains closed, with National Highways saying that repairs needed to “significant” damage to the road surface can only start once the fire is safely under control.
The story in pictures
What did the fire service say?
Thanks to the efforts of firefighters we are managing to contain the fire. We have been using a mix of fire engines and off-road vehicles to damp down and cool the edges of the area involved in the fire to prevent spread and escalation.
How much parents could save from new school uniform rules
A new law coming into force in September means parents in England will save money by having to buy fewer branded items of school uniform.
What does the new law mean?
From September, uniforms will be limited to three items with a school logo, like a blazer, jumper or sportswear – plus a tie for secondary schools.
The government says the changes will save some families “up to £50 per child”.
How will the law be enforced?
Who is affected?
Around 23 per cent of secondary schools will have to change their uniform lists by September.
How will it be enforced?
The education secretary has legal powers to direct schools to comply.
The rest of the UK
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not have a cap on uniform items, but are encoureged to keep uniforms costs minimal.
How England could eliminate hepatitis C
England is “on the cusp” of becoming one of the first countries in the world to eliminate hepatitis C, health officials have said.
What have the health officials said?
Global health leaders have set out plans to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.
NHS England said the nation is one of a handful of countries globally to have already exceeded the World Health Organisation benchmark of treating 80 per cent of all known cases.
It said that deaths from the virus have reduced by 36 per cent in the last 10 years.
What is hepatitis?
- Hepatitis C is spread through contact with blood infected with the virus.
- Many people have no symptoms but if it is not treated it can cause serious, and potentially life-threatening, liver damage.
- A treatment course of antiviral drugs for eight to 12 weeks cures more than 95 per cent of cases.
- NHS England said that since 2015, more than 100,000 people have been diagnosed and treated for hepatitis C.
The expert view
With C curable in more than nine out of 10 cases, we are committed to finding and treating everyone who needs support and would urge those at greater risk to come forward by ordering a free and confidential home-testing kit online.
Professor Frankie Swords, NHS national medical director
Why August is the worst month for drink driving
August is the worst month of the year for drink-drive crashes as summer events create “more opportunities” to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol, according to new research.
What does the research show?
RAC analysis found an average of 721 people were injured or killed in drink-drive crashes in August between 2014 and 2024.
Before July, there was an average 704 casualties over the 11-year period.
December, which is often associated with drink driving, had an average of 663 casualties.
The expert view
Drink- is often seen more of a Christmas issue, but our shows collisions involving drivers who have consumed illegal levels of alcohol are actually far more common during the summer.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams
Williams added that warmer weather, longer evenings and “festivals and barbecues” create “opportunities and temptation” for people to drink and then get behind the wheel.
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Are you having as much sex as everyone else?
It’s natural for libido to wax and wane due to life events, dating status or hormonal changes.
And it can be hard to say what a “normal” sexual frequency is. But research and case studies give us a rough idea.
The statistics
When it happens
61%
A 2023 survey concluded that almost two thirds (61 per cent) of us wait until night-time to have sex.
Only 14 per cent opt to get busy in the early evening, and 10 per cent in the morning.
Research from 2019 suggests that the average number of times British live-in or married couples have sex per month is three.
Are Gen Z having less sex than older people?
I see my partner on the weekends and have sex with others in the week.
Leanne, a 27-year-old influencer from Bristol has sex three or four times a week, but only sees her long-distance partner on the weekends. They have agreed they can both sleep with other people during the week.
35-year-old Rebecca usually sleeps with her partner once or twice per week due to not having much child-free time.
Clare, 32, says her job is busy and she has to schedule sex with her partner on weekends, or some afternoons twice a month. “Occasionally this slips and I do worry that it makes us not as connected,” she says.
I haven’t had the issue of my sex life drying up with menopause. I’m more aroused now.
I’ve been married for 15 years. I love my husband, but our sex life is non-existent, and has been for about five years.
I’m not really motivated to seek out partners; I vaguely like the idea of it but not enough to take any action.
I’ve been married for 20 years and sex has become something of a rarity. We maybe have sex once a week on a Sunday morning as we’re both relaxed and I can take Viagra late on Saturday night – without it, I can’t perform.
JACK, 63, OFFICE WORKER, KENT
The seven rules that could save your marriage
Keep your sense of self
I did what I thought I was supposed to do and forgot my needs and wants. I think it’s really important that you’re an individual and not just a person who is married.
KATIE STRATFORD*, A 55-YEAR-OLD MUM OF TWO, WHO DIVORCED ATER 19 YEARS
Seven rules to save your marriage
The small things
Small things, like being brought a cup of tea or saying thank you, make a big difference.
Karen Deulofeu, who ended her six-year marriage, believes all couples should seek support, even before they think they need it.
Listen properly by repeating what you have heard and ask if you’ve got that right.
Don’t lose communication
People don’t talk about the deep issues; nobody else is going to do it for you. You don’t want to ask questions because it might rock the boat…you have to keep talking, and talk about what it is that you want within the relationship to keep going forward.
KATIE STRATFORD
Seven rules to save your marriage
Remember that things change
“What you see on social media and what friends say is quite often the nice version. Everything is a phase,” says Deulofeu.
Look at yourself first
“Focus on what’s in your control and what you can do differently, rather than the other person or a situation that you can’t control. Invest in understanding yourself,” she adds.
‘My family have never been so close to a fire’
“I was on my way back to my call-out base, which is my home. En route, I was mobilised to Ingrebourne Hill. And then I saw my address on the tip sheet,” the 54-year-old told The i Paper.
“Never in my whole career have my family been so close to a fire. So yes, there was the added stress of a fire, but also making sure my family was okay.
“I had my fire brigade head on, so I thought ‘I will deal with this’.”
The flames ravaging Ingrebourne Hill came within about 30 feet of his house. His wife, daughter and two dogs had been evacuated, along with 35 nearby residents.
Seventy firefighters from 10 crews fought back the flames, some from residents’ gardens, after the fire leapt over rivers and onto 25-ft-tall reed beds in marshland. It incinerated around 10 acres of land.
‘We squashed the fire from all angles’
“I took on the left-hand flank with another officer, and we fought the fires back in the reed beds,” Strand said.
“As it was travelling round the left-hand flank, it was getting very close to the housing. We pincerned the fire and squashed it from all angles, and the crews did a fantastic job of stopping that fire.
“And I thanked them all, actually, because it was my house.”
Strand was speaking from Harold Hill fire station, in the London borough of Havering, which is deemed London’s wildfire hotspot.
Minutes later, a 4×4 terrain support vehicle (TSV), specially designed to tackle grassfires, was deployed to a wildfire in Romford, where three engines had already been dispatched. Smoke from one fire can be detected at the base.
Strand, a wildfire support officer, estimates about 80 per cent of his calls are now for grassfires. He is regularly deployed back to east London from his permanent base at Dowgate Fire Station, in the City of London. This summer, he has been “absolutely flat out”.
‘It’s one incident after another’
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in the amount of grassfires that are starting to spread across and are affecting property,” he said.
“I’m finding myself going from one incident to another incident to another incident.
“There was the Wennington fire. During that period, yes, we were busy, but I don’t recall being as busy with the amount of incidents that we’re having across London.”
In 2022, on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK, an inferno at the Havering village of Wennington destroyed 18 homes.
Strand was among firefighters deployed to battle the blaze that caused devastation described as “apocalyptic” at the time.
This summer, tinder-dry conditions continue to fuel further blazes.
During the first weekend in August, London firefighters attended over 1,460 incidents, 423 of them grassfires. One of them was another blaze on Ingrebourne Hill.
From 2022 to 2025, there were 6,000 grassfires in outer London, three times more than inner London – Havering had the highest number of any borough, 536.
Some LFB officers have also volunteered to support brigades tackling recent wildfires in Derbyshire, Greater Manchester and the Isle of Wight.
‘We’re OK at the moment – but it’s exhausting’
Strand, a veteran of Grenfell and the 2011 Swinley Forest fire, said fighting blazes of such intensity and so often is “exhausting”.
But despite the summer spike in wildfires, Strand says there is no impact on the response to other callouts, with units from fire stations across London moved to cover teams sent out.
“We’re managing the brigade as a whole. We haven’t run out of resources as such. We’re okay at the moment,” he said.
In recent years, LFB has added to its armoury of tools to combat wildfires, with TSVs capable of veering off-road, equipped with 475 litres of water and backpack blowers, like leaf blowers, to push back flames.
LFB’s “holey hoses”, another recent addition, create a sheet of water more than six feet high. Officers have also been sent to Morocco, Spain and South Africa for wildfire training.
To combat heat exhaustion, firefighters have rehydration packs, while LFB has been working with local authorities and farmers to create fire breaks in rural urban interface areas.
But the threat this summer is constant. And with no sign of a let-up in the heat, and grassland “tinder dry”, Strand urged people not to have barbecues or fireworks in open areas and to dispose of rubbish and glass responsibly.
“Wennington heightened everybody’s awareness in the country. The thing is, it gets forgotten over time,” he said.