Compared to August, the weather in September seemed positively balmy. However, things were merely relative and it was still the coldest, dullest and wettest September for a good few years. Consequently there were just a handful of polluted days. Particles only reached moderate concentrations in London, on Marylebone Road on the 11th and in Camden on the 22nd and 23rd. Nitrogen dioxide reached moderate levels once, during the morning rush hour on the 19th in Bury Roadside next to the M60. Ozone pollution, was far more widespread, mainly over the second half of the month when more consistent patterns of high pressure brought sunnier weather to much of the UK. There was still no occasion when the number of monitoring stations reporting moderate concentrations of ozone got into double figures (out of 75 ozone monitoring stations in the UK network).
There was much discussion last month about the news that the recent increases in fuel prices had led to significant reductions in levels of traffic and congestion across much of the UK. It is too early to tell whether this led to measureable improvements in air quality, due to the dominating effect that weather conditions have on the concentrations of pollutants in the air we breathe. It has clearly shown though that there is significant room for flexibility in the way we travel and this can only be good news for those responsible for trying to air manage pollution.
