UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has warned that “Britain is a tinderbox” as the country battles dozens of wildfires.

Burnham called in the military and temporarily banned disposable barbecues as the country endures the fifth heatwave of what is expected to be its hottest summer ever.

The Prime Minister urged the public to avoid doing anything which could spark an outdoor fire. “Please think about the situation we are in,” he said. “Britain is a tinderbox right now. Setting a fire in any outdoor setting is a risk to people’s homes and other people’s lives.”

He also warned smokers against lighting up outdoors and urged them to dispose of cigarettes carefully.

Police officers put up a cordon in Stourbridge. Photo: EPA

Phil Garrigan, chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council, told Reuters the number of wildfires has ​exceeded last year’s total of 1017.

“We’re only in the middle of August, and the wildfire season seems to extend way into November at ​this moment in time. So, we’re anticipating this being not just a record-breaking year, but a considerable increase on the number of wildfires previously experienced.”

The Prime Minister visited the scene of a fire in Stourbridge in the West Midlands where residents were forced to evacuate. Despite a record-breaking dry summer, the latter part of the year is expected to be very wet.

“We might be in for a wet autumn and winter straight after this, because of El Nino and some of the issues there, which was reported to Cobra. So, after fire could come floods.”

Burnham urged the public to “face up to the changing climate”.

“I think we need a different debate about that. There’s no point denying where we are. We need to face up to it. We need more clean energy. We need to see that transition accelerate. Those are all of the issues that are right now in discussion.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey criticised the government’s response, saying in a statement, “The country is burning – devastating wild fires in the Midlands and the New Forest, hospitals dangerously overheating and the heat’s impact on our railways – and Andy Burnham’s only solution so far seems to be preventing the sale of disposable barbecues.”