High pollution warning issued in London as capital braces for 34C heat
Temperatures in the capital are expected to reach 34C, increasing ground-level ozone – a harmful pollutant which surges when heat and sunshine react with existing pollutants in the air.
Experts at Imperial College London advised City Hall to issue the alert, warning that wind directions mean pollution from mainland Europe is also expected to exacerbate ozone levels in the south east.
High ozone levels can cause respiratory problems by irritating and inflaming the lungs, causing coughing, throat irritation, and shortness of breath. It can worsen asthma and other respiratory conditions, and can increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. Ozone can also irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, causing discomfort.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: 'We all know the dangers toxic air poses to Londoners, which is why I am doing everything in my power to tackle it. On Tuesday alongside the current high temperatures, we will also experience high levels of air pollution.
'Pollution and heat can be a dangerous combination, which is why I'm urging Londoners to look after themselves and each other by choosing to walk, cycle or take public transport, avoid unnecessary car journeys, stop their engines idling and refrain from burning wood or garden waste, all of which contribute to high levels of pollution. This is particularly important in order to protect those who are most vulnerable and help us to build a safer and greener London for all.'
In June this year, the Royal College of Physicians warned the UK's continuing air pollution problems represent a "public health crisis", linked to 30,000 deaths a year, affect 99 per cent of the country's population and costs taxpayers up to £50bn a year.
City Hall issues alerts to Londoners, schools and local boroughs when moderate, high or very high air pollution is forecast. High air pollution alerts are displayed at public locations across London, including all bus stop countdown signs, and on the Underground.
The deputy mayor for environment and energy, Mete Coban added: 'London's toxic air is responsible for around 4,000 premature deaths in the capital each year, which is why the Mayor has done everything in his power to tackle it, including launching the world's largest clean air zone."
The high pollution warning system was introduced by the mayor's office in 2016. These forecasts are created by Imperial College London, and checked against other public forecasts, including airTEXT and the Met Office, to predict when air pollution in the capital increases and poses risks.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Canterbury Christ Church University launches midwifery course
A Kent university is launching a new midwifery degree which aims to incorporate artificial intelligence and teaching about healthcare Christ Church University (CCCU) says its new course will "ensure that our students are well prepared to navigate the complexities of modern maternity care" when it starts in new course comes after the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which has approved it, withdrew accreditation for a previous CCCU midwifery course in Paul Driscoll-Evans, dean of the university's midwifery school, said it had "worked closely with health leaders across Kent, Medway and at national level" to design the course. "Our new curriculum is built on the principles of innovation, inclusivity, excellence and sustainability, ensuring that our students are well prepared to navigate the complexities of modern maternity care."In May 2023, the Nursing and Midwifery Council highlighted concerns that students were not gaining the expertise needed to deliver safe, effective and kind to the university, the new course will incorporate new technologies including AI and virtual healthcare to prepare prospective midwives for future advances in course will be delivered by the university with input from Kent healthcare services including NHS Kent and Medway, as well as maternity service on the course will also teach about how race, gender and other identities can affect people's experience of course will take on its first cohort of 25 students at the university's Canterbury Campus this year, with another cohort at its Medway campus launching in Fox-Collins, director for maternity, neonatal and women's health services at NHS Kent and Medway, said: "Giving people who are passionate about the midwifery profession the opportunity to undertake their training in the maternity services across Kent and Medway will enrich our workplaces and improve our services further."
Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
Sustainable Switch Climate Focus: Wildfires rage across southern Europe
Aug 15 - This is an excerpt of the Sustainable Switch Climate Focus newsletter, where we make sense of companies and governments grappling with climate change on Fridays. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox for free sign up here. Hello! Today's newsletter focuses on record-breaking heat gripping southern Europe and has unleashed a wave of devastating wildfires, forcing mass evacuations, claiming lives, and spurring a surge in arson arrests. Temperatures in Spain have pushed past 45 °C, drying landscapes into fuel and driving blazes from Portugal to Greece. Spain – now the epicenter – has lost about 148,000 hectares to flames this year, over a quarter of the EU's total burned area. At least seven people, including firefighters, have died, while some 9,500 residents have been evacuated. Authorities are confronting both natural ignition and deliberate acts, with ten arson arrests since June. Spain has appealed to its European partners for support, requesting aerial firefighting resources to bolster its strained response. In Portugal, nearly 1,000 firefighters battled a blaze near the scenic mountain village of Piodao. Crews managed to bring under control a wildfire burning for 11 days - the longest for this season - in the mountainous area of Vila Real in the north. In Greece, intense fires near Patras and on islands like Chios and Zakynthos have displaced thousands, overwhelmed emergency crews, and ravaged farmland and infrastructure. More than 5,000 firefighters and 33 aircraft are engaged in round-the-clock containment. Firefighters contained several wildfires raging across Turkey, including a large blaze in the northwestern province of Canakkale that forced hundreds to flee from their homes. Both Canakkale airport and the Dardanelles Strait, which connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, were temporarily shut due to the wildfires earlier this week. A man also died in a fire in Albania, while a 61-year-old Hungarian seasonal worker is suspected to have died of heat-related causes while picking fruit in Lleida, in Spain's eastern Catalonia region. In Montenegro's mountainous Kuci area, northeast of the capital Podgorica, one army soldier was killed and another badly injured when a water tanker they were operating overturned, the Defence Ministry said. Global warming is giving the Mediterranean region hotter, drier summers, scientists say, with wildfires surging each year and sometimes whipping up into "whirls". WHAT TO WATCH Click here, opens new tab for an insightful Reuters video on Abdul Karim Abbas, a gardening volunteer who is attempting to fight one of Iraq's most pressing threats: desertification. NUMBER OF THE WEEK $275 million The total amount racked up by a Washington state entrepreneur and a former Jefferies portfolio manager over a Ponzi scheme and related fraud involving water vending machines, U.S. authorities said. Ryan Wear, the former owner of Water Station Management, was charged in Manhattan with securities and wire fraud. Jordan Chirico, who worked at Jefferies' Leucadia Asset Management unit, was charged with securities and investment adviser fraud. CLIMATE LENS Last month was Earth's third warmest July since records began and included a record national temperature in Turkey of 50.5 degrees Celsius (122.9 Fahrenheit), according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The average global surface air temperature reached 16.68 C in July, which is 0.45 C above the 1991-2020 average for the month.
The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Supporting kids with Send is expensive. But the cost of not doing so is far greater
Three of my four children have had full EHCPs. These are education, health and care plans, which means each child's needs have been assessed and documented. They guarantee that appropriate provision to meet those needs has been agreed and must now be delivered by law. Well-written EHCPs are invaluable, particularly the legal part. Without it there would be no rigour, no meaningful challenge and, ultimately, no power to ensure that the right educational support is provided. Naturally, then, I was worried when earlier this year the government began discussing reforms, with the possibility of scrapping EHCPs. Ministers said they had inherited a system on its knees, with local authorities struggling to cope with the rising demand for support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send). The government's plans are due to be published in October, and I fear where they will leave children like mine. One of my children was diagnosed as autistic at the age of seven. They struggled in school for years, hitting academic targets but withdrawing into an isolated, fear-filled, friendless space, with daily meltdowns on their return home. The school failed to understand what was happening and as my child reached their teens, with pressure mounting, my husband and I began to fight on every front, attempting to get an EHCP, facing a tribunal, battling with a school that seemed to lack compassion and desperately trying to access therapy. As a result of societal pressure and our abject fear of the school attendance officer, we demanded more of our child – ordering, cajoling and begging them to come out of their bedroom and go to school. This went on for months until one day, they simply refused to go. A pattern of low attendance followed. The system had broken my child, and later, with an incident of massive self-harm, they let us all know that no one was listening. We sat for days in hospital on suicide watch. From time to time, my child would check their phone only to find bullying messages (up to 94% of autistic children are bullied). Something had to shift. We managed to get a simple (not full hours) EHCP, but it took so long to come through that it no longer applied to the child we were now faced with. Finally, two years later, a fantastic Send officer at our local authority took our case on, gold-standard provision was agreed and the impact was transformative. For instance, if our child couldn't make it into school, the teaching assistant (TA) would come to our home and work with them. This created a safe bridge between school and home and led to them going into school almost every day. Another of our children, who is adopted and has complex needs, presented with very challenging behaviours at school and has experienced permanent exclusions. From those first incidents, it took more than two years to organise an EHCP and get them into an appropriate educational setting. Permanent exclusion has risen by 39% in English schools in the past two years and is common among children and young people with Send. When you consider that many thousands of children are waiting more than 20 weeks to get an EHCP, it makes sense that there are problems in classrooms. Another of our autistic children spent three years out of education between the ages of 11 and 14, waiting for an appropriate school within an hour of home. A private school for autistic children was eventually found, and our child has flourished. The school costs the local authority a lot of money, but without the EHCP our child could well have remained out of education. This often means taking a tax-paying parent out of the workforce as they become full-time carers, the child's teacher, therapist and social circle. The outcome for these children is likely to mean no job, mental health issues and early death (autistic people are nine times more likely to die from suicide). The long-term cost to health and social care is great. These are just three examples of why EHCPs matter. If children do not have an EHCP they will often end up refusing to go to school. When a child responds with aggression and violence, they are letting the grownups know that school isn't working. Without an EHCP, my child learned that a violent outburst meant they would be taken to a quiet space outside the classroom, which is exactly what they wanted. They were letting staff know that without help, the classroom was intolerable. An EHCP would have given my child an allocated, full-time TA and strategies and plans for help. Send children often experience unmet needs in school and with increasing mental health challenges (only 32% of those trying to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are getting support) the challenges can escalate very quickly. I have attended a number of meetings where the government's strategic adviser on Send, Christine Lenehan, has hinted at the scrapping of EHCPs. It always causes real fear among those present. To be clear, the vast majority of EHCPs are applied for by schools, not parents. Without them, teachers are set up to fail, their passionate vocational callings moving towards disillusionment. So far, their voices have not been heard in the argument. An Ofsted report shows that 30% of teachers are asking for more Send training. Teachers rely heavily on TAs in the classroom and one child's EHCP may cover the cost of that extra staff member. We need to empower teachers and especially value our incredible TAs. Schools' senior leadership teams need to create environments where all belong – staff and children – but they cannot do this if there is a lack of awareness, training and funding, and no legal mandate. With the current delays in issuing EHCPs, we clearly see the impact of their absence. Our children end up at home, out of school, with no social life, no education and most importantly, no sense of belonging. This affects their whole lives. They may never be part of the workforce or have a meaningful social circle. They may never take their place in society. The government has clearly taken into account the cost of EHCPs. Now it needs to focus on the cost of not providing them. Carrie Grant is a TV presenter and voice coach and a parent of four children with special educational needs In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978
