The British army is on standby to assist firefighters battling vast moorland blazes in northern England.

Fire crews have been battling the seven separate fires for several days on the tinder-dry Saddleworth Moor in northern England.

UK correspondent Rod Liddle told Mike Hosking they're facing hot, dry conditions, and frequently changing wind directions.

"It's also an area of rural land penned in by the most densely populated area of Great Britain, which is Manchester, Sheffield, and Leeds.

"We don't have the kind of wildfires that you get in New Zealand, but when they do happen they are dangerous because we are a densely populated island."

LISTEN TO ROD LIDDLE TALK WITH MIKE HOSKING ABOVE