MPs visit Imperial Hazelab

In December 2025, UK Members of Parliament from the EFRA Committee visited Imperial, and Hazelab was part of their tour focused on weather resilience.

Hanna Berry and Professor Guillermo Rein demonstrated in simple and safe ways how weather dramatically affects wildfire behaviour. They showed the coupled effects of wind and buoyancy using fire tornado Siroco, and demonstrated fire spread experiments to highlight how fuel moisture deficits (and heatwaves) greatly increase wildfire intensity.

The Hazelab team also shared a poster which summarises the group’s work across the six layers of wildfire protection: prevention, detection, compartmentation, suppression, evacuation and damage mitigation. Wildfire resilience is not a single intervention, but a layered system grounded in science and engineering.

Professor Guillermo Rein said: "Wildfires are a growing hazard in the UK, and weather matters enormously. Effective, UK-specific protection strategies can be built, and the best ones are informed by science."

"It is encouraging to see MPs engaging directly with research and evidence when shaping climate resilience and public safety. Thank you to the Imperial Policy Forum for bringing them to our lab."