Athens air quality
Greece · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sun 02:00 local time
Moderate
Acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should ease off long, intense outdoor effort.
- Next 24 hours
- 33–51US AQI, highest around Sun 02:00
- Best time outside
- Sun 23:00–2:00US AQI about 34
- PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
- 0.3×5.2 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
- Cigarette equivalent
- ≈ 0.2 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
- European AQI
- Fairlevel 2 of 6
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Pollutants in Athens right now
| Pollutant | Now | Next 24 h vs WHO | US AQI band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine particles (PM2.5) | 5.7 µg/m³ | 0.3× | Good |
| Coarse particles (PM10) | 9.9 µg/m³ | 0.2× | Good |
| Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) | 12 µg/m³ | 0.2× | Good |
| Ozone (O3) | 46 µg/m³ | 0.8× | Good |
| Sulphur dioxide (SO2) | 1.7 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 192 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Desert dust | 0 µg/m³ | ||
| Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth) | 0.19 | ||
| UV index | 0.0 |
“Next 24 h vs WHO” compares the forecast with the World Health Organization’s 2021 guideline levels: 24-hour means of 15 µg/m³ for PM2.5, 45 for PM10, 25 for NO2, 40 for SO2 and 4 mg/m³ for CO, and 100 µg/m³ over 8 hours for ozone. Above 1× is above the guideline.
Next 48 hours
Hourly US AQI. Highest 51 around Sun 02:00, lowest 32 around Mon 03:00.
5-day air quality forecast for Athens
Daily range of the hourly US AQI, from lowest to highest, on a scale of 0 to 150.
| Day | US AQI | At worst | PM2.5 avg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 27 Sept | 34–52 | 5.1 | ||
| Mon 28 Sept | 32–39 | 7.0 | ||
| Tue 29 Sept | 39–45 | 8.2 | ||
| Wed 30 Sept | 38–47 | 6.7 | ||
| Thu 1 Oct | 35–37 | 5.7 |
Common questions about the air in Athens
Is the air in Athens safe today?
For most people, yes. Right now the US AQI in Athens is 51, which counts as moderate. Acceptable. Unusually sensitive people should ease off long, intense outdoor effort.
When is the best time to be outside in Athens?
Sun 23:00–2:00. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 34. The worst hour is around Sun 02:00, at 51.
What is the main pollutant in Athens?
Fine particles (PM2.5). It drives the index right now, at 5.7 µg/m³. Tiny particles from combustion, fires and dust that reach deep into the lungs. The main driver of AQI worldwide.
How does Athens's air compare with the WHO guideline?
Within the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 5.2 µg/m³, against the World Health Organization's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. The other pollutants stay within their guideline levels.
How many cigarettes is a day of Athens's air?
About 0.2 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 5.2 µg/m³. By Berkeley Earth's rule of thumb, 22 µg/m³ breathed for a day is roughly one cigarette.
Will air quality in Athens improve this week?
Thursday looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 37, against 52 on Sunday, the worst day in the forecast.
Measured near Athens
| Station | PM2.5 µg/m³ | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor | 1.7 | Sun 02:48 |
| Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor | 0.7 | Sun 02:48 |
Air quality near Athens
- Skopje 488 km NW
- Sofia 525 km N
- Istanbul 562 km NE
- Bucharest 743 km N
- Sarajevo 791 km NW
- Belgrade 804 km N
About this forecast
Forecast from CAMS Europe and global via Open-Meteo: the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) model at about 40 km resolution (10 km inside Europe), refreshed twice a day. Models smooth out street-level peaks, so busy roads and industrial sites can be worse than shown; ground stations, where there are any nearby, show what monitors actually measure. The US AQI follows the US EPA scale and the European AQI the EEA bands. Readings for 37.98°N, 23.73°E, updated 2026-09-26 23:00 UTC.