Then, when researching the images I realised there was something that hadn’t been done. There have been so many books in the last ten years about English art, but they’re all exactly the same. They all contain great artists, but there doesn’t seem to be anything that moves beyond that. The strand in English art and culture that I think is represented by the more subversive and radical elements, hasn’t been represented in any visual book other than those by individual artists. Some have gone to a rescue centre set up in the nearby Premier Inn, including Riminta Maceikaite, 38, and her 13-year-old son Nikas. One resident, who has terminal pancreatic cancer, said she was forced to leave all her cancer drugs behind as they were evacuated. Four engines to a grass fire over an area of about one hectare (2.5 acres) of woodland and undergrowth on Chapel View in Croydon A major blaze in the village of Wennington in east London ripped through fields and homes, with the full extent of the damage - and any casualties - yet to be determined

John Ruskin made the case for art as a language. Crafted visual images are more than frozen icons: they articulate an inner voice. Lines, space and perspective are its grammar, colour its syntax. From his perspective, it’s what you depict that counts: “It is not by the mode of representing and saying, but by what is represented and said, that the respective greatness of either the painter or the writer is to be finally determined.” We’re all really worried, the wind is strong and we’re seeing on the news that loads of houses are on fire and there isn’t enough fire engines. But not everything is about ‘greatness’. While art may tell a story, Ruskin is telling his story about art, and as with any story, the narrative unfolds according to who gets to do the telling. England On Fire: A Visual Journey Through Albion’s Psychic Landscape tells a different tale, or rather the same one through different voices. The English are obsessed with the world behind the real world. I’m quite fascinated by why in Victorian era there was this huge Vogue for fairy paintings. Victorian fairy painting is really weird. Some of the people involved like Arthur Conan Doyle’s father, Charles Altamont Doyle, who I didn’t include because he’s Scottish, was the most extraordinary character. He ended up in an asylum. The Cottingley Fairy photographs, which Conan Doyle was convinced by, were amazing in how they essentially conned a nation. People wanted to believe in them. I think it was partly due to the trauma after WW1, they wanted something to believe in. There’s a huge tradition of visionary and unhinged artists in this country. A lot of the greatest artists weren’t the most conventional, like William Blake. But there’s also people like Louis Wain with the cat picture, who ended up in the asylum. He did anthropomorphic cats that sold hundreds of thousands of copies, then suddenly he started having visions and drawing these terrifying psychedelic visuals of cats.

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The London Fire Brigade declared a major incident after a number of fires broke out in and around the capital Today the UK officially reached 40C – something the Met Office said was "virtually impossible" in an undisrupted climate.

The fire that broke out in Wennington is still burning, and London Fire Brigade are still at the scene this evening. Two more people were confirmed to have died after getting into difficulty in water in separate incidents, bringing the total in recent days to five. Four were teenage boys and a fifth was a man aged 20 SE: I didn’t know Mat previously. It was very fortuitous, he was recommended by the publisher. I was adamant that I didn’t want to do the text. Partly because I was committed to other things and I thought this was just picture research. The other publisher, Repeater books, who published Mat’s novel The Ruin, their editor Fiona suggested Mat as someone who’d be really good to do the words. I had some conversations with him and realised he was perfect for it. He got what England on Fire was about and we had lots of long phone conversations about things. I’m thrilled with his text. It’s the perfect compliment for the images. Forget the tired rogues’ gallery of lords and ladies, forget the tall ships and haywains. These images cut to the heart of England’s psychic landscapes to portray an Albion unhinged, where magic and rebellion and destruction are the horses to which the country is hitched. On these fabled shores we are all castaways, whether our family has lived here for four thousand years or for four. The fire service is also made a desperate plea to the public not to have barbeques or bonfires on Tuesday.

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We are advising the public to avoid the area and if affected by the smoke to close their doors and windows." The sooner we know about a fire, the sooner we can bring it under control and prevent it from spreading further, reducing the need for us to mobilise additional resources. Sagging conductors and overheating transformers caused faults with the power network in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the North East In Spain, which has seen some of the highest temperatures on the continent, more than 60,000 hectares of land have burned in just a week. A fire also broke out in the dunes at the Belgian coastal resort of De Haan on Tuesday, setting several vehicles alight. This has caused rapid fire spread which has impacted on properties, people's homes, schools, churches and other types of buildings.

Currently, we have 15 crews in attendance at this incident from around the county including support from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service. The service asks people calling 999 to be patient after a major incident was declared over the volume of calls it is receiving and responding to. As the country struggles with its highest temperatures ever recorded, multiple homes have been destroyed by flames after a huge blaze spread to an east London village. We are providing vehicle support to transport firefighters to and from incidents to ensure fire engines can stay where they are needed most. We will continue to work closely with our partners to provide whatever further support we can.Fire crews have battled hundreds of wildfires across the country as temperatures topping 40C transformed fields and grassland into a "tinderbox". His new book, England On Fire, is a genuine feast for the eyes and the imagination. Here Stephen has selected hundreds of incredible images that take the reader on a journey through England’s psychic landscape, featuring a diverse collection of artists from William Blake and Samuel Palmer, to many previously lesser known contemporary painters, sculptors and photographers. Alongside these images sits perfect poetic prose from author and bassist of indie band Suede, Mat Osman, whose words help us explore this unique look at Albion from the supernatural to standing stones and water to wilderness. Riminta Maceikaite, 38, and her son Nikas Janulevicius, 13, said their neighbours' homes have burned down but as far as they can see from TV aerial shots, their house is still standing. I pay tribute to the professionalism and skill of our fire services, who are working in difficult conditions to protect lives and communities. The fire has caused further delays, with Essex Fire Service revealing that it dealt with 130 incidents between 8am and 11pm yesterday.