London Issues High Air Pollution Alert After a Week of Fog and Fireworks

Not a great week to breathe in London.

Mayor Sadiq Khan put out a high air pollution alert for Tuesday, November 10, after a weekend of thick fog and a lot of fireworks. Forecasters at Imperial College told him to do it. Their reasoning was simple. Dense fog plus very light winds let pollution pile up. His office says smoke from Bonfire Night and Diwali fireworks “is likely to have contributed.”

Hospitals and schools got a warning. Everyone else was told to look after themselves.

Sunday Was the Worst of It

On Sunday, November 8, London and the South East hit the top level on the government’s daily air quality index. Defra’s forecast that morning counted high and very high pollution in five regions. IQAir had London’s index above 170 around 6:30 a.m. One outlet reported that fine particles, the PM2.5 kind, went past World Health Organization limits.