M25 closed as industrial estate fire rages alongside motorway amid fears of an ‘explosion’

A section of the M25 has been closed amid fears of an ‘explosion’ from an industrial estate fire raging next to the motorway.

The motorway is closed between Junction 22 and Junction 21a near St Albans, with thick clouds of smoke drifting across the road.

Firefighters asked National Highways to close the section of the M25 because of a ‘risk of a secondary explosion’ as they battled a warehouse fire at nearby Ventura Park.

Residents have been urged to keep their doors and windows closed and told to avoid the area.

The incident comes as a wildfire continues to tear through the historic New Forest after a van burst into flames, with the blaze spreading to surrounding vegetation and engulfing 250 acres.

Firefighters have managed to contain the fire, but a change in wind direction is making their efforts more challenging, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said.

Another UK wildfire raged as Britain’s sixth heatwave of the year is set to build from today towards a 36C peak on Thursday, with no rain forecast and almost three-quarters of England now in drought.

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) amber heat-health alerts will be in place across most of England from this morning until Friday evening, warning of a ‘rise in deaths’.

Motorists were forced to abandon their cars and walk for miles along a main road in searing heat to escape a major wildfire near the New Forest on Sunday.

Around two dozen vehicles were left on the A31 near Ringwood, Hampshire.

Around 250 acres of heathland – roughly the size of 140 football pitches – is either alight or has been burned or damaged, as 1,300 litres of water per minute is pumped along a five-mile pipeline from Hightown Lake to tackle the flames in the Bratley Wood area.

More than 120 firefighters have been tackling the blaze for the past 72 hours.

The public has been told to avoid the area completely, while the A31 has also been badly damaged and will require repairs before it can reopen, according to National Highways.

The giant New Forest fire in protected heathland was still burning on Tuesday, with smoke visible from as far away as Portsmouth, 30 miles away.

Police urged drivers to leave their cars if they wanted to ‘stay alive’, as the road was cleared to prevent the vehicles from becoming ‘bombs’.

Some 23 cars were abandoned, with mothers wheeling children in prams among those forced to evacuate.