Firefighters have been called to a series of incidents across the Hambleton area as temperatures soared on the hottest day of the year so far.
Crews from five stations were sent to a field near Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe at 12.21pm today after a combine harvester caught fire among standing crops.
Firefighters from Northallerton, Ripon, Malton, Helmsley and Kirkbymoorside attended the incident.
Three hose reels and backpack sprayers were used to bring the blaze under control, with farmers also helping crews extinguish the fire.
Less than 20 minutes later, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was inundated with calls reporting another blaze beside the A1.
Knaresborough firefighters were sent to the northbound carriageway near Dishforth at 12.40pm after around 112 separate 999 calls were made about a hedgerow fire.
Around 25 metres of hedgerow on an embankment alongside the motorway was alight. The crew extinguished the fire.
Firefighters were called to a third heat-related incident at Stokesley Road, Northallerton, shortly before 1pm.
Stokesley crew responded after a 7kg propane gas cylinder began venting due to the high temperatures.
Firefighters emptied the cylinder and checked all the other cylinders at the site. A thermal imaging camera was used and advice was given to the owner.
The incidents came as the UK provisionally recorded its hottest day of 2026 so far.
The Met Office said temperatures reached 38.1C at Kew Gardens in London, making Thursday the fifth hottest day recorded in the UK.
Yorkshire has also experienced exceptionally high temperatures, with the Met Office recording temperatures around 32C in parts of the region during the afternoon.
The hot and dry weather has increased concerns about fires in the countryside, particularly with vegetation and crops becoming increasingly dry after a summer which has already been notably warmer and drier than average.
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