The unofficial work to rule, which saw many fire crews responding only to emergency calls, followed accusations that the government and local employers had reneged on a commitment to pay 7% of a phased 16% increase this week.
Anger has been growing among firefighters after it emerged that only half of the 7% would be paid on Friday, with the remaining 3.5% in the new year. The employers insist they have stuck to the terms of the deal that ended the fire dispute, but officials from the Fire Brigades Union said the firefighters had been betrayed and accused the employers of vindictiveness.
"This has put fire service morale at an all-time low," said the FBU leader, Andy Gilchrist. An urgent meeting was being sought between the two sides to try to resolve the issue.
The action, which comes just before bonfire night, one of the busiest times for the fire service, is believed to have started in Norfolk on Monday and spread quickly.
By yesterday, crews from all of Scotland's brigades were reported to be involved as well as crews in Northern Ireland and Wales, and areas in England including Wiltshire, Humberside, South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Emergency calls were being covered but crews were refusing to take part in other work, including training and administrative duties.
The FBU said it could not condone members' action but understood the fury that had driven them to it. "They felt they would not take this lying down," said Kenny Ross, Scottish secretary of the FBU.
The row centres on the staging of the pay deal which was struck in June after a series of strikes. Under the 16% agreement, 4% was paid immediately, backdated to last November, with 7% due this month, followed by a final rise of 4.2% next summer.
A spokeswoman for the local authority employers said that FBU officials knew that the full 7% would not be in pay packets this week but had not communicated that to their members. She said the employers had agreed to go ahead with the 3.5% as a gesture of goodwill.
"The agreement we signed in June required two conditions to be met, neither of which has yet been fulfilled. When they are, it will be backdated to November 7," the spokeswoman said.
The Chief Fire Officers Association urged firefighters to return to normal working and said illegal action was not the way to resolve the dispute.
The FBU, however, said there had been no discussion of staging the payment and no need to do so because agreement had been reached on the fundamental aspects of the pay deal. The FBU executive is due to meet tomorrow to discuss the situation.
Mr Ross said there were real fears where the breakdown in relations might lead. "If the employers start to rewrite this deal we are going to have to look at how we react."
The action came as baggage handlers and check-in staff at Heathrow airport said they would stage a second two-day strike over pay next week, and postal workers prepared to hold talks at the conciliation service Acas to try to avoid further strikes.
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