The Brief · 22 October 2026
RAF aircraft will help fight wildfires in the UK
What happened
On 22 October 2026 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Ministry of Defence and the Prime Minister's Office announced that RAF Chinook helicopters and A400M aircraft will be equipped to fight fires, ready when requested to help crews reach blazes on remote moorland, steep hillsides and other ground that is hard to get to. The Ministry of Defence will also build an aerial firefighting capability permanently based in the UK. No start date was given for the aircraft. The same announcement says the government will consider tougher local restrictions, or bans on products that start fires, when risk is high. Those are being considered and are not in force.
What it means for your household
Nothing, and that is worth saying out loud. This is the state buying capability, which is the thing you would want it to be doing, and it is close to the opposite of a warning. If you see the headline and the photograph of a Chinook over a burning hillside and feel a jolt, that is the picture working on you rather than the news. No new rules apply to you today, and the restrictions mentioned are under consideration, not introduced.
Nothing this week. If you live near moorland or heath that burns in dry summers, the useful page is the one on leaving quickly, and none of it has changed.