Satellite images have revealed the scope of the damage from Elan Valley’s wildfire.

The weeklong blaze was visible from space, showing 8,000 hectares burned, the equivalent of over 11,000 football pitches.

Experts stated the wildfire last week which blazed from 25 April-1 May was on a “scale not seen before”, after wildfires also impacted the 70 square mile estate last year.

The satellite images, enhanced using the SWIR band of the electromagnetic spectrum, show the contrast of black burnt areas, the orange line of the active fire (captured on 29 April) and the bright pink showing the molinia grass that many blame for the extent of the fire.

The 2026 Elan Valley wildfire seen from space last week. Left - the normal satellite image. Right - the image enhanced to see the contrast and active line of fire. The dark purple shows the burnt land, the light pink shows the prevalence of molinia grass which fuels the fire. Photo: Esri/ Landsat
The 2026 Elan Valley wildfire seen from space last week. Left - the normal satellite image. Right - the image enhanced to see the contrast and active line of fire. The dark purple shows the burnt land, the light pink shows the prevalence of molinia grass which fuels the fire. Photo: Esri/ Landsat (Esri/ Landsat)

Uplands ecologist Ben Clarke from Aberystwyth University said: “Wildfires on this scale are unprecedented; we have nothing to compare it to.

“Seeing it in person, the whole landscape is black, it’s otherworldly, visceral.

“It’s a bit scary, we don’t have much information about why it's happening - that’s what we’re working on now.”

Molinia grasses across Strata Florida before and after the 2025 wildfire.
Molinia grasses across Strata Florida before and after the 2025 wildfire. (Ben Clarke)

Wildfires are a new phenomenon for Wales, with little data before the wildfire sprees of 2025, 2026, and 2018; however, wildfires are projected to get worse, as Ben explains: “Mid Wales didn’t use to have a problem with wildfires, but climate change is now enabling this wildfire period every March and April.”

UK-wide, wildfires have typically occurred every 50-100 years, but they are now projected to increase to four times a year by the 2080s.

2025 was an incredibly bad year for wildfires, with Ben’s mapping finding that 20,000 hectares of Wales burned.

The 2025 wildfire in the Elan Valley, which stretched over to Strata Florida. 2025 saw 20,000 hectares of Wales on fire due to wildfires.
The 2025 wildfire in the Elan Valley, which stretched over to Strata Florida. 2025 saw 20,000 hectares of Wales on fire due to wildfires. (Esri/ Landsat)

One of the main problems is the increasing dominance of molinia caerulea or ‘purple moor grass’.

During spring, the native plant is dead and incredibly flammable.

With an “unsustainable” increase in dominance over the last 50 years, the grass recovers quickly after a fire, becoming more prevalent the more wildfires occur.

One area of research is how to reduce this “fuel-load”, with little nutritional value to livestock, many animals won’t graze it.

Solutions including active cutting are being explored, however it often grows in hard-to-reach areas like blanket bog - another problem in itself.

The dead molinia grass, seen here as an expanse of yellow, stretching across the uplands near Strata Florida - photo taken in 2025 before the wildfires.
The dead molinia grass, seen here as an expanse of yellow, stretching across the uplands near Strata Florida - photo taken in 2025 before the wildfires. (Ben Clarke)

Below the bogs is peat, an excellent carbon store holding thousands of years of carbon, which can burn for months if it catches fire.

Peatland has been drained in the UK over the years, with governments and environmental NGOs only recently beginning peatland restoration to raise the water table, rewet the land and hopefully deter wildfires from starting.

Fire services rarely know how wildfires start, with Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Services admitting they did not know the cause of last week's fire.

The Elan Valley Trust joined the fire services to call for the public's help in protecting nature: “Wildfires don't just threaten human life and livelihoods; they destroy rare flora, insects and fragile ecosystems, and the nesting grounds of our local bird populations.

“Sticking to the Elan Valley countryside code helps prevent this kind of catastrophic event - no fires/barbeques, no overnight camping, no littering and no illegal off-roading.”