A holiday park with roughly 200 caravans has been evacuated after a wildfire erupted on the Suffolk coast, because apparently the UK's summer of drought and heatwaves wasn't done serving up crises. The nearby Sizewell B nuclear power station, in a show of British stoicism, says it's "closely monitoring the blaze" but insists it's not actually worried.

A major incident has been declared as firefighters battle a large heathland fire at Dunwich Heath near Leiston, about 3 miles from Sizewell B. The blaze broke out shortly after 5:30pm on Wednesday, and by Thursday, about 90 firefighters were still on the scene, making it the hottest ticket in Suffolk.

Firefighters have said there is no danger to Sizewell B, and an EDF spokesperson confirmed the wildfire is not affecting operations at the power station. It's understood Sizewell B has an emergency plan that covers scenarios including a fire on site, which is reassuring if you're the sort of person who worries about nuclear reactors and wildfires coexisting.

People have been urged to avoid the area and keep windows and doors closed, which is probably good advice anyway given the smoke. Incident commander Christopher May said crews would continue fighting for 24 to 48 hours due to the fire's size and complexity. The fire service noted that currently there's no risk to Sizewell B due to the distance and wind direction (easterly), but it's a "live and dynamic situation" - which is firefighter-speak for "we're watching this closely."

Suffolk County Council said the fire covers about 100 hectares, with 18 fire engines on scene. Cliff House holiday park was evacuated as a precaution, which must have ruined quite a few people's plans for a relaxing week by the coast. Media reports claimed Sizewell B was on "high alert," but EDF's media office politely said that's not true.

Fire crews focused on protecting nearby properties. Station manager Dan Davis described it as a "large-scale, wind-driven forestry fire" that was upgraded to a major incident. The blaze has spread to parts of RSPB Minsmere nature reserve, where area manager Adam Rowlands called the damage "quite devastating" and "unprecedented in living memory." He noted the vegetation was "tinder dry" due to drought conditions, which is basically a recipe for disaster.

Specialist drones were used overnight to assess the fire's behavior, while crews deployed Unimogs and quad bikes - because sometimes you need military-grade vehicles to fight a climate-change-fueled fire. Dr. Zakary Campbell-Lochrie, a fire science lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, confirmed the obvious: drought conditions and heatwaves make vegetation highly susceptible to ignition. The climate crisis, driven by fossil fuels, is making every heatwave more intense, but hey, at least we're getting some practice for the future.

In Scotland, crews are making progress on a wildfire in the Cairngorms that broke out two weeks ago, proving that wildfires don't respect national borders or holiday plans.