Sahara dust blows in
Smog alert as April sun warms us up at last
SUN worshippers made the most of parks and beaches at the weekend as much of the country basked in some of the warmest weather of the year so far.
But there was a cloud on the horizon for the vulnerable when a pollution alert was issued over Saharan desert dust in the atmosphere.
An environmental campaign group said it was made worse by ‘agricultural smog’, caused by ammonia used by European farmers, blowing across the Channel.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs warned at-risk people in the South East, including those with heart and lung problems, to ‘reduce strenuous physical exertion’.
The Saharan dust is expected to remain in the atmosphere for several days. The Met Office said some of it would be ‘washed out’ of the atmosphere by rain and be deposited on cars and homes.
Temperatures peaked at 60F in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, on Saturday, and 63F in Gravesend, Kent, and Writtle, Essex, yesterday. But forecasters warned that the next few days will become ‘fairly unsettled’. While temperatures could still reach 63F in places, there will also be showers in northern and eastern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Sophie Yeomans, from the Met Office, said average temperatures for early April were normally around 52-54F. This year’s highest recorded temperature was 66F in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, last month. The sun’s rays were so strong yesterday they sparked a bedroom fire in a house.
Fire crews raced to the home in Goring- on-Thames, Oxfordshire, after sunlight reflected off a mirror and set a box of tissues alight.
The homeowner called the emergency services after returning to find the top floor filled with smoke.
Fire station manager Marcus Reay said: ‘The cause of the fire has been examined by our specialist investigators and it is believed to have started when sunlight reflected off a mirror located in the front bedroom, and focused the rays on to a box of tissues which were on a wooden tray.
‘I would like to remind everyone that mirrors can cause fires not only in the summer but also at other times of the year, as the sunlight will penetrate further into the room as it is not as high in the sky.’
The environmental campaign group Client Earth highlighted concerns about ammonia blowing over the Channel from slurry on European farms.
It said there was also a pollution alert in April 2014 that was blamed on Saharan dust, but it accounted for less than a fifth of the overall levels of particulate matter, or pollution, in the atmosphere at the time.
Alan Andrews, a lawyer at Client Earth said: ‘By dismissing this as a natural phenomenon, the Government was able to dodge taking any action.’
The group urged ministers to tighten controls on emissions from farms in Britain and Europe.