Strengthening Welsh Wildfire Resilience

The Welsh Government partnered with Map Impact to strengthen its understanding of wildfire risk across Wales through the adoption of WildfireView. The data product provides a consistent, national-scale assessment of wildfire susceptibility, helping public sector organisations, emergency planners and resilience partners identify areas where future wildfire incidents are most likely to occur. The resulting evidence base supports both strategic planning and operational preparedness as climate change increases the likelihood of more frequent and severe wildfire events.

Challenge

Wildfires have historically been viewed as a seasonal risk in Wales, but recent events have highlighted their growing impact on communities, infrastructure and emergency services. During 2026, Fire and Rescue Services responded to a series of significant wildfire incidents across the country, including major fires in the Rhinogydd near Harlech and Blaenavon. The Rhinogydd fire is estimated to have burned approximately 951 hectares, while wildfire incidents elsewhere in Wales affected thousands of additional hectares of land.

As conditions intensified during prolonged periods of hot, dry weather, both South Wales and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Services declared major incidents, with military support deployed to assist response efforts. The Welsh Government described the situation as placing “immense pressure” on emergency responders, while warning that the risk of further wildfire outbreaks remained exceptionally high.

These events demonstrated the increasing pressures placed on emergency responders and the importance of understanding where wildfire risk is greatest before incidents occur. Welsh Government recognised the need for a consistent, evidence-based approach to wildfire risk assessment that could support future planning, preparedness and resilience across multiple agencies and regions.

Solution

Map Impact provided WildfireView, a UK-wide geospatial dataset that assesses the relative susceptibility of land to wildfire occurrence. The data product combines environmental, topographical and land cover information to create a consistent picture of wildfire hazard across Wales, enabling users to identify locations where future incidents may be more likely and where consequences could be most significant.

Designed for use by government, asset managers, resilience partnerships and emergency responders, WildfireView transforms complex environmental information into accessible location-specific intelligence. This allows wildfire risk to be considered within strategic planning, resilience assessments, emergency preparedness exercises and resource allocation decisions, helping organisations move from reactive response towards proactive risk management.

Impact

Welsh Government now has access to a nationally consistent evidence base for understanding wildfire susceptibility across Wales. By identifying areas of elevated risk before incidents occur, WildfireView supports more informed planning and helps resilience partners prioritise activities aimed at reducing the impacts of future wildfires.

The wildfire season of 2026 demonstrated that wildfires are no longer isolated incidents but an increasingly significant resilience challenge. Major incidents were declared, military resources were deployed, communities were affected, and large areas of environmentally sensitive land were damaged. Natural Resources Wales has indicated that some habitats affected by severe wildfire events may take decades, or in some cases centuries, to fully recover where peat soils have been damaged.

As hotter and drier conditions become more common, wildfire risk is expected to increase further, creating greater pressure on emergency services, land managers, infrastructure operators and local communities. WildfireView provides the strategic intelligence needed to move from reactive response to proactive resilience planning, helping government agencies identify priority areas, inform preparedness activities, support multi-agency coordination and strengthen long-term climate resilience across Wales.

“The wildfire events experienced across Wales in 2026 highlighted the importance of understanding risk before incidents occur. WildfireView provides an evidence-based approach to identifying areas of susceptibility, supporting informed planning and strengthening resilience across Wales.” Dave Roberts, Head of Geography, Knowledge and Analytical Services, Welsh Government.

Image showing a wildfire at Rhigos mountain in Rhondda Cynon Taf, courtesy of BBC