Cairngorms National Park wildfire declared major incident with hundreds evacuated

A wildfire which has engulfed the UK’s largest national park has been declared a ‘major incident’.

Cairngorms National Park has been burning for 10 days, destroying trees and sending toxic smoke across north east Scotland.

Police declared the wildfire a major incident yesterday, warning that strong, dry winds are whipping up the ‘unpredictable’ blaze.

A ‘major incident’ can cause ‘serious harm, damage, disruption or risk to human life’, according to the emergency services framework.

The fire is being swept towards Nethy Bridge, a village of around 700 people who have been evacuated to Macdonald Aviemore Resort.

Supt Judy Hill said: ‘The weather conditions experienced within the Cairngorms over the last 24 hours have added further complexities to this situation.’

A wildfire smoke advisory is also in place for Tomintoul, where residents have been advised to keep windows and doors.

The smoke is also flowing through Aviemore, Inverurie, Banchory and Kintore and as far as Aberdeen, making it hard to see along the A9.

Breathing wildfire smoke can cause a sore throat, make it hard to breathe and worsen conditions like asthma.

A map from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs shows the air quality in north east Scotland is ‘high’.

Fire services said this morning that anyone with heavy machinery, such as bulldozers, should come help with the emergency response.

‘Please continue to avoid the affected areas while firefighting operations remain ongoing,’ the brigade added.

‘The area remains unsafe due to active firefighting operations, rapidly changing fire behaviour and helicopter activity.’

Like most of the UK, Scotland has for months been baked by relentless spells of hot, dry weather.

These heatwaves amount to what researchers call ‘fire weather’ as they create the perfect conditions for a blaze to take off.

The heat dries up forests and other vegetation, including grass and leaves that can be easily set alight, and evaporates moisture.

But experts previously told Metro that the conditions have also caused a ‘firewave’, with more wildfires observed in urban, less flammable areas.

Given the size of Cairngorms National Park, the scorching summer has created acres of fuel for wildfires.

Despite the name, most wildfires are caused by humans, such as unattended campfires, flung cigarette butts or arson.

Fire services say that climate change is worsening Scotland’s fire season, which is typically in the spring, by dragging it out well into the summer.

The burning of fossil fuels has doubled the chance of wildfires erupting compared with the preindustrial period, according to a 2025 study.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.