Air pollution: High levels 'to spread across England and Wales'

People in many parts of England and Wales should be braced for "very high" levels of air pollution on Wednesday, the government has said.

Environment department Defra said high levels recorded on Tuesday in eastern England and the Midlands would spread.

It expects the pollution - a mix of local emissions and dust blown from the Sahara - to move across southern England, the Midlands, and south Wales.

Those with lung or heart disease are urged to avoid strong exercise outside.

Sore eyes and cough

Defra has a 10-point scale for measuring air quality - with 1 meaning there is a "low" risk of air pollution and 10 warning of "very high" levels.

Levels hit the maximum of 10 in north-west Norfolk on Tuesday.

Readings for Wednesday are expected to reach 8 or 9 in much of southern England, the Midlands, and southern Wales, and possibly 10 along England's southern coast.

Advice on the department's website states that for high levels of pollution: "Adults and children with lung problems, and adults with heart problems, should reduce strenuous physical exertion, particularly outdoors, and particularly if they experience symptoms.

"People with asthma may find they need to use their reliever inhaler more often. Older people should also reduce physical exertion."

It adds that "anyone experiencing discomfort such as sore eyes, cough or sore throat should consider reducing activity, particularly outdoors".

Andrew Sibley, specialist forecaster for the Met Office, said: "Conditions are going to get worse again as we go through Wednesday and the rest of the week."

He said that a south-easterly wind would bring with it yet more pollution from Europe, and further compound the situation in the UK.

'Caught by rain'

Mr Sibley said that dust and sand particles from the Saharan desert could easily get swept up by high winds and carried thousands of miles across the globe.

"The dust gets caught by rain particles and that's how it ends up being visible on the ground," he said.

A Defra spokeswoman said: "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."

Northern Ireland and Scotland will see low air pollution on Wednesday, with isolated moderate levels possible in urban and other areas.

High levels of pollution are expected to continue across East Anglia and the Midlands on Thursday. But they are expected to drop by Friday.

The BBC's environment correspondent Roger Harrabin said the episode could bring further attention to the government's long-term struggle to reduce air pollution.

The EU has launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to reduce "excessive" levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution - mostly from traffic - after 15 years of warnings, he added.

Pollution levels in London are set to get worse on Wednesday

Source:BBC