Government urges barbecue sales pause

What's happened

The prime minister has chaired an emergency Cobra meeting as the UK faces a fifth heatwave, widespread drought and rising wildfires. He has asked retailers to follow voluntary guidance and suspend sales of disposable barbecues; some supermarkets have already stopped sales. Ministers are considering a temporary summer ban and steps to support firefighters, farmers and water supplies.

What's behind the headline?

What is actually happening

• The government has mobilised national emergency machinery and is targeting an immediate, narrow risk: disposable barbecues. Officials are pushing retailers to stop sales under a 2023 framework the National Fire Chiefs Council helped design.

Why policymakers have moved now

• Heat, drought and repeated wildfires are creating acute ignition risk. Fire services are responding to far higher wildfire numbers than normal and the NFCC and firefighter unions are demanding more resources and powers.

Who wins and who loses

• Retailers face lost seasonal sales but will avoid reputational and regulatory risk if they comply. Fire services will gain operational breathing space; conservation groups and farmers will get more protection for fragile habitats. Individuals who use disposable grills will face reduced access this summer.

What this will cause next

• The government will increase pressure on retailers to follow voluntary guidance and will examine a temporary statutory ban for summer months. Ministers will also face calls to fund more firefighting capacity, drought relief for farmers, and measures to stabilise water supply.

The longer-term pivot

• This crisis will force faster debate on adaptation: investment in firefighting equipment, water infrastructure and clearer public rules about ignition sources in public open spaces. Expect policy arguments over prevention funding, whether to extend voluntary industry frameworks into law, and how to balance public access to outdoor spaces with safety.

How we got here

A prolonged series of heatwaves has scorched much of Europe and the UK, causing thousands of heat-linked deaths, widespread wildfires and record-low river levels. Drought declarations, pressure on water companies and strains on emergency services have forced ministers to convene successive Cobra meetings and push voluntary retail restrictions introduced in 2023.

Our analysis

The BBC has reported that Rhun ap Iorwerth has told BBC Wales he supports calls for retailers to suspend disposable-barbecue sales and that the issue was discussed at Wednesday's Cobra meeting (BBC Business, 13 Aug). The Mirror and BBC said the prime minister has told reporters single-use grills "have been behind a number of recent blazes" and asked "all retailers, big and small" to adhere to the 2023 framework restricting retail sales (The Mirror, 12 Aug; BBC Business, 12 Aug). The Independent and Guardian trace the wider context: repeated heatwaves, an amber Met Office warning for parts of England and mounting pressure from unions and conservationists — the Independent quoting the Fire Brigades Union that the UK is facing a "national emergency" and the Guardian noting urgent calls for a national wildfire strategy (Independent, 12 Aug; Guardian, 12 Aug). The Independent and Guardian also cite operational strains on water firms and nuclear plants in Europe tied to drought and low river levels, illustrating the wider cascade of infrastructure impacts (Independent, 12 Aug; Independent, 8–11 Aug). Direct quotes: Rhun ap Iorwerth told BBC Wales: "I absolutely support taking measures that could remove this risk" (BBC Business, 13 Aug). The prime minister said people should not be using single-use grills "at this moment in time" and that a summer ban is something the government is "certainly going to consider" (BBC Business; The Mirror, 12 Aug). Follow reporting at the NFCC statements and Fire Brigades Union comments for operational detail and the evolving calls for resources and policy change.

Go deeper

• Will a temporary statutory ban on disposable barbecues be introduced this summer?
• What specific support will firefighters and water firms receive from government funding?
• Which retailers have already suspended sales and will smaller shops follow suit?

More on these topics

• Andy Burnham - Mayor of Greater Manchester

  Andrew Murray Burnham is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He attended Gordon Brown’s Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008 and served in the Cabinet as Culture Secretary f

• France - Country in Europe

  France, officially the French Republic, is a country consisting of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories.

• United Kingdom - Country in Europe

  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland.

• Spain - Country

  Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula.

• Met Office - Weather service

  The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy led by CEO Penelope Endersby, who took on

• London - Capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom

  London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of 9.1 million people in 2024. Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 15.1 million. London stands on the River...

• Greece - Country in the Balkans

  Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, known also as Hellas, is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its population is approximately 10.7 million as of 2018; Athens, the nation's capital, is its largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.

• England - Country of the United Kingdom

  England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by

• Zack Polanski - Member of the London Assembly

  Zack Polanski is a Green Party of England and Wales politician who has been a member of the London Assembly since May 2021. Polanski is also the national spokesperson for the Green Party for Democracy & Citizen Engagement.

• Hungary - Country in Europe

  Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Spanning 93,030 square kilometres in the Carpathian Basin, it borders Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and Slovenia to the southwest, a

• Wales - UK constituent country

  Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. As of 2021, it had a population of 3.2 million.

• Europe - Region in Europe

  Central Europe is the region comprising the central part of Europe. Central Europe occupies continuous territories that are otherwise sometimes considered parts of Western Europe, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe.

• Danube - Second-longest river in Europe

  The Danube ( DAN-yoob; see also other names) is a river in Europe, the second-longest after the Volga. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest of Germany south through the Danube Delta in Romania into the Black Sea. A large and historically important river, it was once a frontier of the Roman Empire. In the 21st century, it connects ten European countries, running through their territories or marking a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for 2,850 km (1,770 mi), passing through or bordering Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine. Among the many cities on the river are four national capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. Its drainage basin amounts to 817,000 km2 (315,000 sq mi) and extends into nine more countries. The Danube's longest headstream, the Breg, rises in Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, while the river carries its name from its source confluence in the palace park in Donaueschingen onwards. Since ancient times, the Danube has been a traditional trade route in Europe. Today, 2,415 km (1,501 mi) of its total length are navigable. The Danube is linked to the North Sea...

• Italy - Country in Europe

  Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a sovereign country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands. Italy is located in south-central Europe, and is considered part of western Europe.

• Romania - Country in the Balkans

  Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It shares land borders with Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east and has its opening

• Budapest - Capital of Hungary

  Budapest is the capital and the most populous city of Hungary, and the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits. The city has an estimated population of 1,752,286 over a land area of about 525 square kilometres.

• Hampshire - Shire county

  Hampshire is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Winchester, England's former capital city.

• Fire Brigades Union - Trade union in the United Kingdom

  The Fire Brigades Union is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime Firefighters, Retained Duty System and Emergency Control Room staff.

• South Yorkshire - English metropolitan county

  South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England. It is the southernmost county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and had a population of 1.34 million in 2011.

• Green Party - Type of political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism, social justice, and nonviolence

  A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace social democratic economic policies and form coalitions with other left..

• fossil fuel

  A fossil fuel is a fuel formed by natural processes, such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing organic molecules originating in ancient photosynthesis that release energy in combustion.

• Stevenage - Town in Hertfordshire, England

  Stevenage ( STEE-vən-ij) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about 28 miles (45 km) north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage was designated the United Kingdom's first New Town under the New Towns Act. In 2021 it had a population of 94,456.

• Dunwich Heath

  Dunwich Heath is an area of coastal lowland heath just south of the village of Dunwich, in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB, England. It is adjacent to the RSPB reserve at Minsmere. It lies within the area of the Minsmere-Walberswick Heaths and Marshes..

• Times Radio - Digital radio station

  Times Radio is a British digital radio station owned by News UK. It is a joint operation between Wireless Group, The Times and The Sunday Times.

• National Fire Chiefs Council - UK representative body for fire and rescue service chief officers

  The National Fire Chiefs Council is a representative body made up of the chief fire officers of the fire services in the United Kingdom.

• Heat Wave - Disaster type

  A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries.

• Suffolk - English non-metropolitan county

  Suffolk is an East Anglian county of historic origin in England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east.

• Downing Street - Street in London, England

  Downing Street is a street in central London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

• United States - Country in North America

  The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico.

• East of England - Region of England

  The East of England is one of nine official regions of England situated at the first level of the European Union's Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics.

• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - Government department

  The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern I

• Angela Eagle - Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom

  Angela Eagle is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Wallasey since the 1992 general election.

• Albania - Country in the Balkans

  Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeast Europe on the Adriatic and Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea.

• United Nations - Intergovernmental organization

  The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations.

• Ukraine - Country in Europe

  Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast.

• Bordeaux - City in France

  Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne in the Gironde department in Southwestern France. The municipality of Bordeaux proper has a population of 257,804.

• East Midlands - Official region of England

  The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire), Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and Rutland. The region has a land area of 15,623 km2 (6,032 sq mi), with an estimated population 5,063,164 in 2024. With a sufficiency-level world city ranking, Nottingham is the only settlement in the region to be classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The main cities in the region are Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Nottingham. The largest towns in these counties are Boston, Chesterfield, Coalville, Corby, Glossop, Grantham, Kettering, Loughborough, Newark-on-Trent, Northampton, Mansfield, Oakham, Swadlincote and Wellingborough.

• Germany - Country in Europe

  Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe. Covering an area of 357,022 square kilometres, it lies between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south.

• drought

  A drought is an event of prolonged shortages in the water supply, whether atmospheric, surface water or ground water. A drought can last for months or years, or may be declared after as few as 15 days.

• Israel Meteorological Service - Unit of the Israeli Ministry of Transport is a responsible for forecasting weather and meteorological data supply climate research in Israel

  The Israel Meteorological Service (Hebrew: השירות המטאורולוגי הישראלי, HaSherut HaMete'orologi HaYisra'eli) is a unit of the Israeli Ministry of Transportation responsible for forecasting weather, meteorological data and climate research in Israel. It was founded in the 1930s as a meteorological unit during the British Mandate, mainly supporting the evolving aviation needs. After establishing the state of Israel, it was incorporated into the Ministry of Transportation. Since 1949, it has been a member of the World Meteorological Organization. The Israeli Meteorological Service is headquartered near Beit Dagan and operates over 150 measuring stations nationwide.

• El Niño

  El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific, including the area off the Pacific coast of South America.

• Isle of Wight - Island in England

  The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. It is in the English Channel, between 2 and 5 miles off the coast of Hampshire, separated by the Solent.

• Moldova - Country in Europe

  Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The capital city is Chișinău.

• Essex - English non-metropolitan county

  Essex is a county in the east of England, north-east of London. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south and London to the south-west.

• Environment Agency - Non-departmental public body

  The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body, established in 1995 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enhancement of the envi

• Austria - Country in Europe

  Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked East Alpine country in the southern part of Central Europe. It is composed of nine federated states, one of which is Vienna, Austria's capital and its largest city.

• England and Wales - Administrative jurisdiction within the United Kingdom

  England and Wales is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is English law.

• Copernicus Climate Change Service - European Union scientific programme

  The Copernicus Climate Change Service is one of the six thematic services provided by the European Union's Copernicus Programme.

• Southern Water - Water utility company

  Southern Water is the private utility company responsible for the public wastewater collection and treatment in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and for the public water supply and distribution in approximately half of...

• Israel - Country in the Middle East

  Israel, formally known as the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea.

• Thames Water - UK water company

  Thames Water Utilities Limited, trading as Thames Water, is a British private utility company responsible for the water supply and waste water treatment in most of Greater London, Luton, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, north Wiltshire, far west Kent, and some other parts of England. Like other water companies, it has a monopoly in the regions it serves. With origins dating back to the formation of the New River Company in 1609, Thames Water was established in 1989 during privatisation of the water industry in England and Wales. The name of the company reflects its role serving the drainage basin of the River Thames; water is sourced from the Thames as well as a number of other rivers and boreholes. The UK's largest water and wastewater services company, Thames Water is responsible for an extensive water management infrastructure which includes the Thames Water Ring Main around London, one of Europe's largest wastewater treatment works and the UK's first large-scale desalination plant—both at Beckton in east London—and the £4.2 billion Thames Tideway sewer (which went into service in 2025). Per day, the company supplies 2.6 billion litres (570 million imperial gallons) of...