AN "apocalyptic" fire broke out on Marsden Moor at around 7:30pm last night, with the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service confirming that around 1.5 sq km of moorland was ablaze.

Laura Boocock, West Yorkshire Fire Service's incident commander, said it was "one of the biggest moorland fires we've ever had to deal with."

A witness described the scene as "apocalyptic" and suggested that it was "what the world would look like if it was ending."

The alarming scenes came just hours after it had been confirmed that the UK had again broken the record for the warmest winter day, with highs of over 21 degrees.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus:

It was reported that five fire engines and two specialist moorland firefighting units were sent to tackle the blaze.

Units from Bradford, Odsal, Keighley and Cleckheaton fire stations are all at the scene this morning.

Fortunately, there were no reported injuries but the A62 was closed for a short time between Colne Valley and Diggle as a precaution.

This comes less than a year after Saddleworth Moor was beset by a huge moorland fire.

A blaze broke out on June 24 last year and it took around three weeks for fire crews to fully put it out.