Winter smog returned to our cities in December. Modern smog is less visible than Victorian pea-soupers but a thin brown layer could be seen on the horizon as still weather trapped the air pollution.
Paris had ten days of smog at the start of the month; the worst pollution for a decade. Emergency actions to reduce the health impacts included free public transport, reduced traffic speeds, lorry bans in the city centre, a ban on wood burning and four days of alternating bans on cars with odd or even number plates.
At the same time London had its worst pollution since 2012. The initial three days of smog were caused by diesel exhaust and wood smoke. The mixture then changed as polluted air combined with agricultural emissions as it drifted slowly between cities, spreading from southern England and France as far as central Scotland.
There was more smog between Christmas and New Year in southern and eastern England, south Wales, Paris and also in Madrid where over a week of emergency controls were invoked to protect residents, including banning odd and even numbered cars on alternate days.
UK smog warnings encourage vulnerable people to avoid exposing themselves to polluted air. During December, London’s bus stops were used to display these warnings for the first time. The Royal College of Physicians has called for action on polluters to protect us when air pollution is high, including reducing traffic near schools to protect our children, but emergency vehicle bans and free public transport are not part of the UK’s current armoury of controls.
