London air quality
United Kingdom · Live AQI and hourly forecast for the next 5 days · updated Sun 01:00 local time
Good
Great air. A perfect time to be outside.
- Next 24 hours
- 31–49US AQI, highest around Sun 20:00
- Best time outside
- Sun 01:00–4:00US AQI about 32
- PM2.5 vs WHO guideline
- 0.5×8.2 µg/m³ over 24 h, guideline 15
- Cigarette equivalent
- ≈ 0.4 a dayBerkeley Earth rule of thumb
- European AQI
- Moderatelevel 3 of 6
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Pollutants in London right now
| Pollutant | Now | Next 24 h vs WHO | US AQI band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine particles (PM2.5) | 8.6 µg/m³ | 0.5× | Good |
| Coarse particles (PM10) | 16 µg/m³ | 0.3× | Good |
| Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) | 53 µg/m³ | 0.8× | Good |
| Ozone (O3) | 12 µg/m³ | 0.7× | Good |
| Sulphur dioxide (SO2) | 2.2 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | 253 µg/m³ | 0.0× | Good |
| Desert dust | 0 µg/m³ | ||
| Smoke and haze (aerosol optical depth) | 0.17 | ||
| 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 49 around Sun 20:00, lowest 31 around Sun 01:00.
5-day air quality forecast for London
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 | 31–49 | 8.3 | ||
| Mon 28 Sept | 34–46 | 6.8 | ||
| Tue 29 Sept | 37–43 | 7.5 | ||
| Wed 30 Sept | 41–52 | 10 | ||
| Thu 1 Oct | 51–52 | 7.9 |
Common questions about the air in London
Is the air in London safe today?
Yes. Right now the US AQI in London is 31, which counts as good. Great air. A perfect time to be outside.
When is the best time to be outside in London?
Sun 01:00–4:00. That is the cleanest stretch in the next 24 hours, with the US AQI averaging about 32. The worst hour is around Sun 20:00, at 49.
What is the main pollutant in London?
Fine particles (PM2.5). It drives the index right now, at 8.6 µg/m³. Tiny particles from combustion, fires and dust that reach deep into the lungs. The main driver of AQI worldwide.
How does London's air compare with the WHO guideline?
Within the guideline. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 8.2 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 London's air?
About 0.4 cigarettes. Over the next 24 hours PM2.5 averages about 8.2 µg/m³. By Berkeley Earth's rule of thumb, 22 µg/m³ breathed for a day is roughly one cigarette.
Will air quality in London improve this week?
Tuesday looks cleanest. Its AQI peaks at 43, against 52 on Wednesday, the worst day in the forecast.
Measured near London
| Station | PM2.5 µg/m³ | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor | 1.6 | Sun 00:49 |
| Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor | 1.8 | Sun 00:49 |
| Unnamed sensor Sensor.Community, low-cost sensor | 3.9 | Sun 00:49 |
Air quality near London
- Manchester 262 km NW
- Brussels 321 km E
- Paris 344 km SE
- Amsterdam 358 km E
- Dublin 463 km NW
- Edinburgh 534 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 51.51°N, 0.13°W, updated 2026-09-27 00:00 UTC.