Along with daffodils and blossom, air pollution is a regular feature of spring in western Europe. Often these events are hard to notice in our everyday lives, but they have an impact on our health. For example, particle air pollution in spring 2014 was estimated to have resulted in 1,649 UK deaths.
This year, the London mayor’s alerting service issued warnings on 23 March and air pollution was also mentioned in weather forecasts. Air pollution then reached the top of the UK government’s 10-point scale across London and the south-east. Other badly affected areas, with scores of eight and nine, included eastern areas of England and parts of the north-west.
