Satellite data shows 2025 is already the second worst year on record by area burned and number of fires. It also reveals that in the last week there have been more blazes in the country compared with other parts of Europe experiencing similar weather conditions. As of Monday, there have been 115 blazes and an area of more than 95 square miles (24,890 hectares) - nearly the size of Edinburgh - has been scorched since 1 January, according to European Forest Fire Information System figures. Only 2019 was worse for area burned (28,754 hectares) and 2022 for the number of fires (151). The data shows the UK has seen more fires from January to April, compared with the same period in 2024, and is higher than expected for the time of year. The Met Office said the fires are due to dry and breezy conditions in spring which came after a damp winter, meaning there was "fuel" for the blazes because of plant growth. Further dry conditions could make 2025 the worst year for wildfires, it said. The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) said fire and rescue services in England and Wales have responded to 411 wildfires so far this year - more than double the number for the same period in 2022 (189). The NFCC said responding to wildfires "requires a lot of resource" which puts more pressure on other service activities. "These figures paint a concerning picture about the growing incident rate of wildfires in the UK," a spokesman said. Read more from Sky News:Sunak's former aide charged with election betting offencesPrivate plane crash in US kills ex-college football star Earlier this month, a "severe" rating for wildfires was issued for parts of the UK - and some fire services told residents not to have barbecues in open spaces due to the dry and warm conditions. Several hectares of woodland in the Moors Valley Country Park on the Dorset-Hampshire border were destroyed by wildfires. A large blaze in Galloway was one of a number which also broke out in Scotland in a matter of days.

Space Forge will ship its prototype manufacturing satellite in the coming weeks from an industrial park in the city to the US, where it will be sent into orbit on a SpaceX rocket. Sky News was given exclusive access to the company's dust-free 'clean room' to watch engineers carry out final checks. ForgeStar-1 is already loaded up with the raw ingredients to make a new generation of super-efficient semiconductor chips that would be impossible to produce on the planet's surface. Joshua Western, the company's co-founder, said: "This is the next industrial revolution but it's in space, it's not on Earth." Semiconductors are found in almost all electronic technology. They're currently made from silicon crystals, but the material has a performance ceiling. However, in the microgravity and vacuum of space it's possible to make crystals from a new mix of chemical compounds that would allow computer chips to work faster while consuming less power. "We're able to reduce the energy consumed where they get deployed by more than 50%," Joshua said. "In the UK alone, we're talking billions of pounds being saved in the energy bill alone. "That's in terms of consumer mobile data, but also data applications that are really (energy) hungry - artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and all the way down to people using ChatGPT at home." The prototype will test out the process of making the material, and it's been given the first in-orbit advanced manufacturing licence by the Civil Aviation Authority. If it works, the next mission will be for real, producing pure crystals that could be cloned back on Earth to meet huge demand. The company reckons such high-grade material for electronics could be worth up to £45m per kilogram, far outstripping the cost of launching on a rocket. But to safely bring such a precious cargo back to the planet, the company has had to design its own lightweight heat shield able to withstand high temperatures as it plunges through the atmosphere. It's called Pridwen, named after King Arthur's shield, and it's folded, origami-style, into a tiny space until it's needed. Then it springs open like an umbrella to protect the satellite and slow it down so that it gently splashes down in the ocean, where it can be picked up. ForgeStar-1 is a pioneer. Read more from Sky News:Rocket launches Starlink satellitesSpaceX tourists' historic flightBritish-built Mars rover stuck on Earth The UK's Satellite Applications Catapult, which supports space start-ups, says everything from stronger metal alloys to powerful cancer drugs could in future be made in space. Nafeesa Dajda, chief of missions at the Catapult, said Britain is taking the lead. "We can communicate from pretty much anywhere on Earth using satellite technology," she said. "There's an opportunity now to think about how we use space in a different way and the unique environment that space provides us with, that microgravity environment, means we can do things we just can't do on Earth. "So how big could this be for the UK? Huge. "We've estimated that the opportunity is worth around £20bn to the UK economy over the next 10 years." At Space Forge HQ the team will be anxious to see their satellite leave for the US after years of development work. It's a story that could have come straight from Silicon Valley. "It demonstrates what a couple of guys who started in a garage on the outskirts of the city when they got bored one night in the pub were actually able to do," said Joshua. "There is an optimism with technology now (in the UK) that we didn't always used to have. "There is a new life in the industrial base, especially around engineering, and that's despite all of the challenges that it has right now."

With ChatGPT-4o, users can transform photos or memes into distinctive styles - making them look like they came straight out of The Simpsons, Rick And Morty or South Park. The latest update to the AI tool can also generate realistic images, logos and diagrams from simple word prompts, able to handle up to 20 different objects in one image. The internet has also discovered that the update makes it possible to recreate themselves in Barbie doll form. Between that and the ability to recast images in the hand-drawn style of Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli - it's been a busy time for AI image generation. In fact, Sam Altman - the tech mogul and boss of OpenAI, the company that brought ChatGPT into the world - even had to plead with people to "please chill". Record surge in chatbot users Users of ChatGPT breached 150 million for the first time this year after the rollout of the tech's latest image generator, according to data from market research firm Similarweb. The number of active users, in-app subscription revenue and app downloads also reached an all-time high after the launch of GPT-4o. Mr Altman talked up the success of his technology - but also warned the increased demand for picture generation was putting unprecedented pressure on OpenAI's GPUs (graphics processing units), the part of a computer designed to accelerate graphics and image processing, and it was struggling to cope. "It's super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT. But our GPUs are melting," Mr Altman said on 27 March. Three days later, he issued the plea: "Can y'all please chill on generating images, this is insane our team needs sleep." The company was still facing issues by 1 April, with users being warned to expect service to be slow, new OpenAI releases to be delayed and for "stuff to break". On 10 April, Mr Altman said: "OpenAI usage has gone nuts over the past month," adding that service speed and rate limits should improve. Powerful AI models need increasing amounts of electricity to work. A report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that training GPT-4 took 14 weeks and used about 42GWh (gigawatt hours) of electrical power. That's the equivalent to the daily electricity consumption of about 28,500 households in the developed world or 70,500 households in poorer countries. AI Barbie dolls One of the viral AI-image trends that has recently flooded the internet is the AI Barbie doll. Using ChatGPT's image generator, people transform themselves into action figures - complete with personalised accessories and a box. One of those to jump on the trend was Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who shared a video of her Barbie doll walking out of its box. "The Congresswoman MTG Starter Kit If I was a doll," she wrote on social media, adding: "I love all my accessories, including my Bible and gavel for DOGE Committee chair!" To create the figurines, users have to ask the chatbot to "create an action figure style image", listing the accessories they would like and the description on the box. 'Ghiblification' Before Barbie dolls, the internet went crazy for Ghibli-style images. Everything from profile pictures to viral internet moments were subject to 'Ghiblification', which transforms images into the style of animations by Studio Ghibli - famed for films including Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, The Boy And The Heron and Howl's Moving Castle. Some Ghibli-style images recreated political events in US history, including the disastrous Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the assassination of President John F Kennedy. The technology was even used by the White House, which posted a Ghibli-style image of a weeping woman being arrested by US immigration agents, an image based on the actual deportation of a convicted drug dealer. Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, also received the Ghibli treatment with the MyGovIndia X account posting a collection of images showing the leader in various scenarios, including one of him next to Mr Trump and another with French President Emmanuel Macron. Other users recreated iconic images and memes, including Olympic silver medallist pistol shooter Yusuf Dikec, who went viral after the Paris Games last year after he was photographed shooting with one hand in his pocket. Why is it controversial? The extensive use of Ghibli-style images has led to questions about potential copyright violations. Studio Ghibli's co-founder and animator Hayao Miyazaki is one of the world's most accomplished animation filmmakers. While the Japanese company has not commented since ChatGTP-4o's new image generator tool was launched, in 2016 Mr Miyazaki said he was "utterly disgusted" at the technology. He said at the time: "I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all." Artist Karla Ortiz, who grew up watching Mr Miyazaki's films and is suing other AI image generators for copyright infringement in a case that's still pending, called it "another clear example of how companies like OpenAI just do not care about the work of artists and the livelihoods of artists". She said: "That's using Ghibli's branding, their name, their work, their reputation, to promote [OpenAI] products," Ortiz said. "It's an insult. It's exploitation." It still remains unclear if Studio Ghibli issued OpenAI a licence for training, which would have given the company permission to use the works, or if a licence was even needed. Josh Weigensberg, a partner at US law firm Pryor Cashman, said the issue of copyright is complex. "[There is a general principle] that 'style' is not copyrightable. But sometimes what people are actually thinking of when they say 'style' could be more specific, discernible, discrete elements of a work of art," he explained. Read more from Sky News:Suicide forum first to be investigated by OfcomThe 'two blokes in a Cardiff garage' behind a space factory In a technical paper posted last month, OpenAI said its new tool would be taking a "conservative approach" in the way it mimics the aesthetics of individual artists. A spokesperson for the company told Sky News: "Our goal is to give users as much creative freedom as possible. "We continue to prevent generations in the style of individual living artists, but we do permit broader studio styles-which people have used to generate and share some inspired original fan creations. We're always learning from real-world use and feedback, and we'll keep refining our policies as we go." Sky News has contacted Studio Ghibli for comment.

Popstar Katy Perry, author Lauren Sanchez, journalist and TV presenter Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, former rocket scientist Aisha Bowe and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn are due to launch in Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket today. It will be the latest flight of the New Shepard programme, named NS-31, and is aiming to "create a lasting impact that will inspire generations", with the women forming the first all-female crew since Russian engineer Valentina Tereshkova's solo flight to space in 1963. The trip is only expected to last around 11 minutes, with the reusable self-driving rocket taking off from Launch Site One in West Texas, at 8.30am local time (2.30pm BST). It will reach a maximum height of 100km (62 miles) above Earth, with the women technically entering space as the capsule crosses the Karman line, which is internationally recognised as the boundary of space. They will not, however, be classed as astronauts by the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA or US military, which all have different eligibility requirements for people to become commercial astronauts. While in space, the crew will have about four minutes of weightlessness to float around and take in the views of Earth from the capsule's large windows. The crew capsule will then descend back to Earth using three parachutes. So far, 52 people have been taken into space as part of billionaire and Amazon chief Mr Bezos's programme, including the man himself, who joined the New Shepard's maiden voyage in 2021. Star Trek actor William Shatner became the oldest person in space when he joined the mission at the age of 90. How the crew was picked Mr Bezos' fiancee is leading the mission. Sanchez told Elle magazine she chose her fellow crew members because each had "proven their ability to inspire others". She said all the women will be able to spread the word on what they felt like during the trip, and also expand on ideas of what the next generation of space explorers will look like. Perry, who is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, told Elle that she has been wanting to go to space for almost 20 years, so it was a no-brainer when she got the call. She said: "Even when Blue Origin was first talking about commercial travel to space, I was like, 'Sign me up! I'm first in line'. And then they called me, and I was like, 'Really? I get an invite?'." For King, who is best known as the co-host of US breakfast show CBS Mornings, the decision wasn't quite so easy. "When I got the call from Lauren and Jeff, my first reaction was a no," she said, adding that she still has "a lot of trepidation" ahead of the trip. Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist and chief executive of technology company STEMBoard, said she feels like she has been "training for and waiting for this moment [her] entire life", while civil rights activist Nguyen and film producer Flynn both said the opportunity was a dream come true. "I can't wait to touch down on Earth and share what we bring back with the world," Flynn said. Glammed-up astronauts? As well as making history by being the first all-female crew in space, the women may also be the first group of astronauts to have their hair and makeup done for a mission. "Who would not get glam before the flight," Sanchez said, before joking that fake eyelashes would be "flying round the capsule". Bowe said she had already tested out the hairstyle she plans to have on launch day - by skydiving in Dubai. "I think it's so important for people to see us like that," Nguyen said. "This dichotomy of engineer and scientist, and then beauty and fashion. We contain multitudes. Women are multitudes. I'm going to be wearing lipstick." Perry put it another way: "We are going to put the 'ass' in astronaut." The women also shared details of what they plan to take to space, including the original flag from Apollo 12 - the second mission to the moon - a stuffed animal, shells from Malaysia, and conch chowder, the national dish of The Bahamas, which Bowe grew up eating. Read more:Is Bezos chasing down Musk in the billionaire space race?SpaceX tourists return to Earth As a singer, Perry said she feels like she should perform while floating above the Earth, which would make her the first artist to sing in space. She added that she is also taking part in the flight for her daughter Daisy Dove Bloom, who she shares with British actor Orlando Bloom, to teach her that "any type of person can reach their dreams".

The climate activist, who was played by Julia Roberts in the movie, told Sky News: "My girlfriend, who was a chiropractor, was giving me a chiropractic adjustment and asked me why I had mud on my stilettos. "I said, 'Oh, I've been collecting dead frogs'. She goes, 'What is wrong with you?' So, I started telling her what I was doing." Then just a junior paralegal, Brockovich was in fact pulling together evidence that would see her emerge victorious from one of the largest cases of water contamination in US history in Hinkley, California. Her hard work would see her win a record settlement from Pacific Gas & Electric Company - $333m (£254m) - but that was all still to come. Little did Brockovich know, but her tale of a muddy stiletto would get back to actor Danny DeVito and his Jersey Films producing partner Michael Schamburg, and through them to the film's director Steven Soderbergh. Brockovich says Soderbergh was "wowed" by what he heard. She says he realised her image "was something that Hollywood might be drawn to that I was never thinking of - the short skirt, the attitude, the big bust, the stilettos, the backcombed hair. Somehow, it came together." 'I was always going to be misunderstood' Released in 2000, the powerful story of one woman's fight for justice made Brockovich a household name, and the film won actress Julia Roberts an Oscar. Now, 25 years on, Brockovich says she believes her legal victory was helped in part by an unlikely ally - her learning difficulty. Brockovich says: "Had I not been dyslexic, I might have missed Hinkley." Recently named a global ambassador for charity Made By Dyslexia, she's been aware of her learning differences since childhood and still struggles today. She says "moments of low self-esteem" still "creep back in", and she long ago accepted "I was always going to be misunderstood". But for Brockovich, recognising her dyslexic strengths while working in Hinkley proved a pivotal moment: "My observations are wickedly keen. I feel like a human radar some days… Things you might not see as a pattern, I recognise. There are things that intuitively, I absolutely know. "It will take me some time in my visual patterns of what I'm seeing, how to organise that. And it was in Hinkley that that moment happened for me because it was so omnipresent [and] in my face. Everything that should have been normal was not." 'A huge perfect storm' Brockovich paints a bleak picture of what she saw in the small town: "The trees were secreting poison, the cows were covered in tumours, the chickens had wry neck [a neurological condition that causes the head to tilt abnormally], the people were sick and unbeknown to them, I knew they were all having the exact same health patterns. To the green water, to the two-headed frog, all of that was just I was like on fire, like electricity going, 'Oh my gosh, what's going on out here?'" She describes it as "a huge, perfect storm that came together for me in Hinkley". But a side effect of the movie - overnight global fame - wasn't always easy to deal with. Brockovich calls it "scary," admitting, "when the film first came out the night of the premiere, I was literally shaking so bad, I was so overwhelmed, that Universal Studios said, 'If we can't get you to calm down, I think we need to take you home'. It was a lot". Brockovich says she kept grounded by staying focused on her work, her family and her three children. With Hollywood not always renowned for its faithful adherence to fact, Brockovich says the film didn't whitewash the facts. "I think they really did a good job at pointing out our environmental issues. Hollywood can do that, they can tell a good story. And I'm glad it was not about fluff and glamour. I'm glad it was about a subject that oftentimes we don't want to talk about. Water pollution, environmental damage. People being poisoned." 'Defend ourselves against environmental assaults' While environmental awareness is now part of the daily conversation in a way it wasn't a quarter of a century ago, the battle to protect the climate is far from over. Just last month, Donald Trump laid out plans to slash over 30 climate and environmental regulations as part of an ongoing effort to boost US industries from coal to manufacturing and ramp up oil and minerals production. In response, Brockovich says, "We're not going to stop it, but we can defend against these environmental assaults. "We can do better with infrastructure. We can do better on a lot of policy-making. I think there's a moment here. We have to do that because the old coming into the new isn't working. "I've recognised the patterns for 30-plus years, we just keep doing the same thing over and over and over and over again, expecting a different result. "For me, sometimes it's like, 'Oh my gosh, just get your ego out of the way'. We have to accept that this might be something greater than us, but we can certainly defend ourselves and protect ourselves and prepare ourselves better so we can get through that storm." You can listen to Brockovich speaking about her dyslexia with Made By Dyslexia founder Kate Griggs on the first episode of the new season of the podcast Lessons In Dyslexic Thinking, wherever you get your podcasts.