A UK-based fire service has issued an urgent warning to homeowners after direct sunlight was the cause of a fire at a home address.

Direct sunlight can still cause fires in autumn and winter despite temperatures feeling colder.

Leominster Fire Station issued the warning following the house fire which caused no injuries but could’ve developed into a “disaster” had it gone unnoticed, reports The Mirror.

The fire service warned Brits to “please be aware of what damage magnified sunlight can do and consider what is the way of direct sunlight”, the newspaper said.

Direct sunlight can cause house fires

The house fire was started when a glass lamp magnified the sunlight and as a result, a hair band on a bedside table ignited.

Taking to Facebook to warn the community, Leominster Fire Station said: “Today, our crew attended a fire in a domestic property that was started by direct sunlight.

“Even as we experience the change in the seasons, days like today can see us experiencing strong sunlight. The pictures below show a glass lamp that magnified the sunlight, causing a hair band on a bedside table to ignite.

“Please be aware of what damage magnified sunlight can do and consider what is in the way of direct sunlight.”

The fire service also warned drivers to be aware of bright sunlight when on the road.

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It added: “Also consider the effects of bright sunlight when driving at certain times of the day, and make use of sun visors and sunglasses if necessary.”

How can direct sunlight cause a fire?

BBC Science Focus explained that small glass objects, including ones you might not even think about like glass door knobs, can start fires when in contact with direct sunlight.

It said: “Fishbowls, jam-jars and even glass door-knobs have been implicated in focusing the sun’s rays sufficiently to cause smouldering, followed by a full-scale blaze.”

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The website explained how a fire caused by direct sunlight can start in both the warmer and colder months: “That’s because the sun’s rays bathe the Earth in a constant flow of thermal energy spread over each square metre.

“While this is too dilute to ignite paper, wood or other combustible substances, if the rays are focused, the flow of energy becomes concentrated enough to exceed the threshold for combustion.

“Magnifying glasses do this very effectively, refracting the rays and bringing them to a tight focus. But even fragments of glass can have some focusing effect – with potentially disastrous consequences.”