Smog in the cities: the truth about Britain’s dirty air

As London pollution hits a five-year high, will we see a return to the carpets of fog?

Last Sunday evening, the air over London achieved a remarkable quality. As winds died and a freezing stillness gripped the city, levels of nitrogen oxides and particles of soot slowly built up in the air until they reached maximum measurable levels at 24 different locations across the capital. It was a degree of pollution that had never been recorded in London since the government introduced its current methods and scales for recording air quality, the Daily Air Quality Index, in 2012.

"What we recorded was a very intense pollution event over London - in common with several other areas of western Europe," said air pollution expert Gary Fuller, of King's College London. "We had not seen anything like it here for the past five years."

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