Heavy rain over the weekend has eased the risk of fire in many of England and Wales’s upland areas.

The prolonged dry, warm spell saw the outbreak of moorland and gorse fires in many areas, but wet weather has lowered the risk considerably.

Left: William Clough and Kinder reservoir: access land will reopen by the end of the week 

In the Peak District, restrictions remain in force for the time being on the national park’s access areas, but these are likely to be lifted soon. Moorland conditions hit their highest risk level at the weekend but this was then followed by torrential rain, though not in all areas.

Sean Prendergast, who is in charge of the Peak District National Park’s ranger service told grough: “We look for people’s support and help during the closures and we would like to thank people for their co-operation.

“The worst danger has passed with the wet weather and rangers are working to have the signs [restricting access] taken down by the end of the week.”

Park authorities stressed that all public rights-of-way remained open during the access land closures, which are triggered automatically under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act when fire-risk is severe. The Peak District National Park Authority also kept its own climbing edges, such as Stanage and the Roaches, open for climbing activities, by using public footpaths for access.