UK sky lantern approach 'significantly out of date', NFU warns 9 May 2021 | Sky lanterns start wildfires and property fires, kill or injure livestock, as well as pollute the countryside The NFU has written to the government as part of a coalition of 18 organisations to explain how its approach to sky lanterns is now 'significantly out of date'. The farming union is calling on Environment Minister Rebecca Pow to 'act now' to make the use of sky lanterns illegal. The letter details how in other countries the release of sky lanterns is considered a crime due to the harm they cause animals, habitats and the countryside.