James Kelly
BBC Your Voice

Claire, from Essex, was camping nearby with her husband and four children when they were told they had to evacuate the area immediately as smoke was starting to blow over the area.

"Within minutes, what had been a busy family campsite turned into families frantically throwing whatever essentials they could into their cars," she says.

"We had no choice but to abandon our tent and almost all of our camping equipment and leave, not knowing whether the fire would reach the campsite or if we’d ever see our belongings again."

Claire describes how the hardest part was staying calm for her children, who were "exhausted and frightened".

They're now staying with a local couple in Westleton, who opened up their home: "After such an uncertain 24 hours, that generosity has meant the world to us."

Footage from drone cameraman Ryan Lovejoy, the BBC and Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service shows us how the flames took hold yesterday - leaving devastation behind today.

As a reminder, here's how quickly the fire has unfolded over 24 hours:

• Wednesday 17:00 BST: The fire service is called to reports of a heathland blaze, which is declared a major incident later that evening
• Thursday 08:55: We report that the fire is burning across 10 hectares (24.7 acres) - roughly the size of 14 football pitches
• Thursday 12:00: Suffolk County Council says about 100 hectares (247 acres) is burning, which is a 10-fold increase in just a few hours
• Thursday 17:30: The fire has grown by another 50% to 150 hectares (371 acres); that's approximately 210 football pitches.

Suffolk has only received 2% of its average monthly rainfall for July so far, according to the Met Office.

Other counties have recorded similar figures as low as 1% and 0% for the month.

The rainfall in Suffolk for this summer (measured from the start of June until the end of August) is currently 36% of what it usually gets.

"Some showers, possibly heavy are possible this evening and into the early hours of Friday," a Met Office spokesperson added.

"Further showers are likely next week, possibly thundery."

The area affected by the wildfire has grown to 150 hectares (371 acres), the equivalent of approximately 210 football pitches.

Earlier, we told you it was affecting about 100 hectares.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service says the major incident response can be expected to carry on for another 48 hours at least.

“Changing wind conditions continue to affect the direction and behaviour of the fire, making it difficult to predict how it may spread,” the fire service says.

It adds that it has requested additional national support, "including wildfire specialist appliances, officers, and tactical advisers".

George King
Suffolk

Dr Rupert Read is an environmental philosopher, a former professor at the University of East Anglia and the co-director of the Climate Majority Project.

He says it is “sad that a wonderful area has been damaged in this way”.

“This kind of wildfire is very sadly exactly the kind of event we now have to expect as climate breakdown accelerates,” he says.

“We need to act as a high priority to make ourselves safer against this sort of thing, now, across East Anglia, and of course far beyond.

“Because this is only the beginning. Next summer will almost certainly be worse. Making ourselves safer begins with citizen vigilance. But it doesn’t end there.”

Image source, PA Media

More now from the chief fire officer at Suffolk.

Speaking to the BBC in Westleton earlier, Jon Lacey described the last 24 hours as "unprecedented".

“I've been to some significant incidents, but I don't think I've ever had a fire that I've had to deal with that has had 125 firefighters on the scene. It is very unusual.”

Image source, Reuters

Jude Bayly, who owns caravans in the evacuated area, says she feels "incredibly emotional" about the wildfire.

"I feel every time I speak to a son or my husband I feel very weepy and that's just shock, I would imagine," she tells the Reuters news agency.

"The devastation of this area, which is a natural beauty, and the wildlife is just awful.

"You see it on the television with France and Spain and you're quite removed from it and then it's here and I feel quite as if it's actually... I'm not really taking it in."

Luke Deal
in Westleton

Image source, Vikki Irwin/BBC

Russell Howard, with his wife Marie and daughter Alice, have been caught up in the Dunwich Heath incident along with their dog Kira during a camping trip.

Marie says they were out for the day on Wednesday when they saw fire engines and smoke.

They saw the smoke from the beach.

Russell says at 22:00 BST they were told they might have to be evacuated before they then were told to leave by wardens.

"It was a little bit scary," he says. "People on the campsite were going nuts and leaving quite quickly.

"We took our time and we still left quite a bit there like our tent... we then made our way to the beach car park where we spent the night, not really getting much sleep."

Russell says they could see an orange glow in the sky during the night and they saw some injured animals.

George King
Suffolk

Image source, Supplied

Retired ecologist Chris Keeling says the impact the fire will have on wildlife and habitats is "so terribly sad" and "horrendous".

"I find it utterly sickening and it just makes me feel so desperately sad to see that destruction," said the 67-year-old, who is the vice chairman of Suffolk Bird Group.

"We need to really value our wilder habitats, nature and biodiversity because we all depend on it and a world without that is going to be a rather sadder place."

The area is home to everything from Dartford warblers, nightjars and stonechats to native reptiles such as adders, common lizards and slow worms.

Navtej Johal
Reporting from Westleton

Suffolk chief fire officer Jon Lacey says there are approximately 100 to 150 people who have been evacuated from their accommodation.

"We have around 76 people at this rest centre who have been directly affected," he explains.

"There are other people at the caravan parks who evacuated and went their own way to another location.

"We are unable to collect exact numbers on those as they dispersed on their own."

Rozina Sini
Your Voice

Image source, Supplied

Lauren, from Yorkshire, drove down to Dunwich, Suffolk, with her partner Richard and two children for their caravan holiday.

However, shortly after arriving, the wildfire started and the family was evacuated.

"It was quite scary getting a knock on the door at midnight. There was a lot of smoke in the air, it was unpleasant to breathe."

Lauren describes how she was then offered a place to stay by volunteers who let her and her family stay in their home. This morning the family was also welcomed to the town hall for a cooked breakfast by more volunteers.

"It was utterly heartwarming, everyone was so friendly. A woman offered to do some colouring with the children so that we could listen to the briefing from the fire service.

"We cannot thank the local community and the emergency services enough."

The National Trust is thanking the fire service and local farmers for working to contain the fire.

Properties on the site have been protected so far.

Russell Clement says in a statement: "At the moment, the iconic Coastguard Cottages have escaped the path of the fire.

"We're incredibly grateful for Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service and the multiple agency response, including local farmers, who are doing all they can to contain the fire."

Navtej Johal
Reporting from Westleton

Barry Banks, a local resident of Westleton, the village to where people have been evacuated, says he housed “three couples and three dogs” in his home last night.

He says it was “a bit chaotic” and that some of the evacuees were “stressed”, but he and the other villagers who allowed people to stay over wanted to help.

Banks says he will house his guests for as long as they need.

More than 100 homes are without power in the area surrounding the wildfire, according to UK Power Networks (UKPN).

It says 116 homes across two postcode areas are affected - IP17 3 and IP19 9 -and says it has no estimate of when power will be back on.

"We're working to give you a more specific time for when your power will be back on," says a notice on UKPN's website.

"As soon as we get an update from our engineers we will display a time."

Chris Fawkes
BBC Weather presenter

Our weather presenter Chris Fawkes says some drops of rain and a north-westerly wind is expected.

We've got high pressure with us at the moment and with these areas of low pressure you often get an area of warm air off the ground. It's called a temperature inversion.

At the moment that temperature inversion is 2km (1.24 miles) off the Earth's surface. That traps the smoke at low elevations and rather than dispersing vertically through the atmosphere, it traps it and the smoke blows horizontally.

It's a worse scenario because the smoke can then affect where people live, towns and villages downwind.

Later on today we're going to see a cold front move across this area. This will bring a zone of cloud through. There will be some rain, just a few drops.

But one of the significant things it's going to do is once that cold front moves through, it gets rid of that temperature inversion.

So instead of seeing the smoke blowing horizontally and hugging the ground, affecting people, it will be able to disperse upwards through the atmosphere.

The winds will also change direction once that cold front has moved through to more of a north-westerly direction, so that will blow the smoke and wildfire fronts out to sea.

Image source, PA Media

Sizewell C says it has been involved in helping local communities affected by the fire.

The nuclear power plant is not yet operational and is under construction, but sits further down the coast from the Dunwich Heath fire. Managers are "closely monitoring" the situation but say "it currently poses a low risk to Sizewell C".

A spokesperson for the nuclear power plant says it is doing the following to help:

• Provide a minibus to support evacuations
• Provide bottled water for local people and the fire service
• Rooms at its Pakefield accommodation were ready should they be needed for residents
• A water bowser has been deployed to support the fire service
• The plant is sending food and water to fire crews on the ground

Global fire map data from Nasa has given us a better idea of the scale of this blaze.

As we told you earlier, the fire service says it is tackling an area reaching 247 acres (about the equivalent of 140 football pitches).

Image source, Reuters

In an update at 15:45 BST, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said its crews continued to work in "extremely challenging conditions".

"Eighteen fire engines and 120 firefighters are involved in the response, but difficult terrain and limited access routes are making it hard for crews to reach some areas of the wildfire," it says.

"The fire remains fast moving, and crews are working hard to contain it and protect surrounding areas."

Image source, Reuters

Photos taken from around Dunwich Heath and Westleton show that there is still a heavy emergency service presence in the area.

Smoke remains in the area as the fire continues to burn and people are seeking rest and relief at Westleton Village Hall.

Police are also at the scene having cordoned off areas including the beach up from Sizewell.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters