Skip to content
worldfires
en
UK · 2017 yearbook

Wildfires in United Kingdom in 2017

6 fires larger than 100 hectares in United Kingdom in 2017, with 3,583 hectares burned according to their perimeters. Here is the whole year: what the official record says, when and where it burned and what the weather was like.

Only fires of 100 ha or more get an entry: smaller ones are not in the lists or the entry totals, but they are in the official yearly series.

These figures leave out 3 burns that were probably not wildfires (agricultural, pasture, reed-bed or prescribed). They appear in the lists, marked.

The year in a few sentences

  1. According to Copernicus EFFIS, 5,085 hectares burned in United Kingdom in 2017: 39% of the average of the other years from 2011 to 2025 (13,206 ha).

    Copernicus EFFIS · See the data

  2. The worst week was 30 April to 6 May: 2,617 hectares burned in seven days, 51% of the year according to Copernicus EFFIS.

    Copernicus EFFIS · See the data

  3. The largest fire was the Highland fire, which started on 4 May 2017 and burned 1,550 hectares: 43% of the area of the year's 6 fires with a page.

    WorldFires · See the data · Open the fire page

  4. The day of highest danger at a fire this year was 6 May 2017: a Fire Weather Index of 15 (moderate on the EFFIS scale) at the West Lothian fire, calculated by WorldFires from ERA5.

    WorldFires · ERA5 · See the data · Open the fire page

Official burned area
5,085 ha
Copernicus EFFIS · ×0.4 the average
Fires with a page
6
3,583 ha within their perimeters
Largest fire
1,550 ha
Highland · 4 May
Highest FWI
15 Moderate
6 May · West Lothian

Map of the year

Copernicus EFFIS
One circle per fire, sized by its area. Tap one to open its page.

Month by month

Hectares within the perimeters by the month the fire started. Tap a month to see it on the map.

Week by week, against other years

Copernicus EFFIS

Cumulative burned area in 2017 over the lowest and highest of each week in the record since 2006, and its average. The bars below show what burned each week. Tap the chart to see a week. The average and the band are the Copernicus EFFIS climatology for 2006–2025, which includes 2017 itself.

0 16k 32k 48k Worst week · 2,617 ha Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov
2017 average 2006–2025 lowest and highest Hectares each week

Every year since 2011

Copernicus EFFIS

Hectares burned per year in the official record. Tap a year to open its yearbook.

2017: 5,085 ha Average of the other years: 13,206 ha

Cite this

Markdown version

Copy the sentences with their source and link. WorldFires data are CC BY 4.0: credit WorldFires and the original source.

- According to Copernicus EFFIS, 5,085 hectares burned in United Kingdom in 2017: 39% of the average of the other years from 2011 to 2025 (13,206 ha).
- The worst week was 30 April to 6 May: 2,617 hectares burned in seven days, 51% of the year according to Copernicus EFFIS.
- The largest fire was the Highland fire, which started on 4 May 2017 and burned 1,550 hectares: 43% of the area of the year's 6 fires with a page.
- The day of highest danger at a fire this year was 6 May 2017: a Fire Weather Index of 15 (moderate on the EFFIS scale) at the West Lothian fire, calculated by WorldFires from ERA5.

WorldFires, “Wildfires in United Kingdom in 2017”, https://worldfires.org/en/country/united-kingdom/2017 (accessed 15 November 2026). Sources: Copernicus EFFIS, WorldFires, WorldFires · ERA5.

Fires of 2017, largest first · 9

Sources and limits

Fire-page areas are satellite-measured perimeters and may differ from official statistics. The yearly and weekly record is the Copernicus EFFIS estimate. The FWI is our own calculation from ERA5 at each fire's location: it is not an official danger warning.

Official information for United Kingdom is published by: Forestry Commission

Perimeters: Copernicus EFFIS and GWIS (and MTBS, NIFC or NBAC in North America). Hotspots: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS). Weather: Copernicus ERA5 via Open-Meteo. How it is calculated