UK suffering from eastern Europe pollution

Recent air monitoring records have shown that polluted air spread eastwards across the UK at the end of January, and stayed for the first half of February, according to the Guardian.

Poor domestic air quality was also exacerbated by cold, frosty nights, which allowed traffic pollution to build up in our cities, spreading out from roads to residential areas. This led to a densely polluted month for major cities, with London, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow bearing the brunt, as well as coastal towns such as Southend, Eastbourne, Portsmouth, Plymouth and Blackpool.

Big cities weren't the only ones to be effected by the accumulation of poor air quality, villages containing major roads such as Storrington, West Sussex, were adversely affected. The air was polluted by small sulphate particles from coal and oil burning arrived from eastern Europe, Poland and parts of Germany on January 31st. Winds later in February brought this stale pollution from traffic and gas burning, passing over densely populated areas of Germany and France before arriving in Britain.

There has been big concern expressed over the CO2 levels in London before the city prepares to welcome the 2012 Olympics. Although Transport for London has recently predicted the capital's air quality could improve overall during the Olympic Games this summer, but pollution will breach legal limits in some hotspots.

Posted by Joseph Hutton