London fire brigade declares major incident after heatwave surge in fires

Smoke rises from a blaze in the village of Wennington, in the east London borough of Havering. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

The London fire brigade has declared a major incident as firefighters battle a surge in blazes across the capital in the record-breaking heatwave.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said the service was under immense pressure owing to the number of serious incidents on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK.