High levels of pollution expected to clear
Air pollution levels remain high across parts of England and Wales but are expected to reduce later today. The South East and Greater London are still experiencing "high" levels of pollution, Defra warns.
Air pollution levels remain high across parts of England and Wales but are expected to reduce later today. The South East and Greater London are still experiencing "high" levels of pollution, Defra warns.
The Government has tackled the air pollution descending on England and Wales "head on" by introducing local and national initiatives, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said.
A Defra spokeswoman explained:
The high level of air pollution this week is due to a combination of local emissions, light winds, pollution from the continent and dust blown over from the Sahara.
We want to keep improving air quality and have introduced a new five-day forecast service in addition to investing heavily in local and transport initiatives to tackle this issue head-on.
Higher numbers of complaints about breathing difficulties are thought to have been brought on by record pollution levels in recent days.
Air pollution in the east of England reached the top of the scale as a 'perfect storm' of conditions blanketed parts of the country.
Our region is one of the worst-affected by "very high" levels of air pollution today, with much of the East stuck under a cloud of smog.