The National Weather Service in Wakefield has issued a Red Flag Warning for much of eastern and central Virginia, including Suffolk, Isle of Wight, Franklin, Southampton and Surry.

The warning remains in effect until 7 p.m., according to the warning. A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are occurring now or will shortly. These include a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures, all of which contribute to extreme fire behavior.

“The fire danger right now is the highest that it’s been all fire season — in fact, we have not seen conditions like these for a couple of years,” said John Miller with the Virginia Department of Forestry. “In dry conditions like this, if a wildfire starts it will be very difficult to suppress and is very dangerous.”

Virginia has a burn ban in effect before 4 p.m. each day until the end of April. The Virginia Department of Forestry advises people not to burn at all right now due to the conditions.