Teen says she was 'terrified' after heatwave wildfire forced family to evacuate home

A teenager has described being "absolutely terrified" as flames from a massive wildlife came within feet of their family home.

"You could hear it, you could smell it, but you couldn't see it," recalled Elvie Drinkwater, 16, as it spread across a wide area of Conwy Mountain in north Wales.

"It sounded like cracking, like popcorn in the microwave... crunching," she said.

Police told her family and others to evacuate from their homes in Capelulo, Conwy county, on Sunday.

She said they left in a "panic" not knowing when or if they would ever be able to return, with the family finally told it was safe to do so on Tuesday.

A major incident declared over the Conwy wildfire has now been brought under control, but firefighters were still tackling several active blazes on Tuesday evening, including in Braichmelyn forestry near Bethesda and the Rhinogydd mountain range near Harlech.

Other wildfires continue to burn in parts of the UK as firefighters face "extreme pressure" due to the prolonged heatwave.

Elvie said police had advised her family to pack belongings on Sunday morning in anticipation of the grass fire reaching their area.

The GCSE student admitted to being "disappointed" that she had not been better prepared to evacuate after initially thinking the blaze was too far away to affect them.

"And then knowing that there's like so many things I want to bring with me, and I just can't go back," she said.

"Then there's that fear, not knowing if I'm coming back.

"Is my house still going to be there?

"How long am I going to be away for?"

They had to wait hours before they learned their property had escaped the fire.

It was then two days before Elvie, her mum and partner could return home.

And their dog, Marley, had to stay elsewhere as he was not allowed at their hotel.

Throughout the ordeal Elvie said she did not feel their safety was at risk because the "firefighters did have a good handle on the situation".

But she added that it was "really sad driving down the pass and seeing all the devastation" on their return home, due to the scenes of charred fields and trees.

"We moved here in 2021, and we did choose this house because of all the natural beauty, everything surrounding us, and now it's all gone," she said.

"Heather takes about 10 years to come back, so it'll be a long time, but it will come back."