Dust from the Sahara desert that has been drifting across Bath for the past few days is to cause high levels of air pollution.
Image courtesy of the Met Office
Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has issued the warning as very high pollution levels were recorded on Tuesday.
Older people and those with lung or heart problems/disease are being urged to avoid any strenuous activities in the outdoors.
The pollution is a mix of local and European emissions which have built up across the south of the UK due to light winds.
Defra uses a point system to measure air quality, with 1 being the lowest risk and 10 warning of ‘very high’ levels.
Levels hit 10 in north-west England yesterday, and are set to stay high for the next few days.
Bath is expected to be at a high level of 7 today and tomorrow.
Dust and particles from the Sahara desert that have been seen on cars across the area over the past few days are playing a part in the pollution build-up, mixing with rain as it travels across the world.
The pollution levels are expected to drop by Friday.
